session 11

Session 11

Today’s lesson started off with an interesting video about Siemens, which talked about how Siemens identifies and solves the problems around the world. I did a bit of research on Siemens and to my surprise; Siemens is actually involving in my fields of technology ranging from oil to water and even medical instruments. I did some read up on water treatment by Siemens and I realized that Siemens has helped many regions to solve the problem of shortage of clean water. Each case is split according to its geographical location and a detailed report written about how Siemens solve the problems as well as challenges facing.

I want to comment on the video, which made fun or Microsoft advertisement. The point I want to discuss here is that if the technology really needs 400 years to become realistic? Honestly I do not think so. In my opinion, except for the concept phone, the rest of the technology should be able to appear in 10 – 20 years time. The only thing is that these technologies may not be able to become very popular in such a short period of time probably due to price and availability.

But I cannot deny that there is a possibility that such concept phone will become real in a decade’s time. I think for all these technologies, the key challenge is not whether or not we can build this or that but if everyone is able to afford it. I believe the technologies that involve in the concept phone will appear really soon but how long will it take before scientists can transform the technologies into something most of us are able to afford.

I think most of the time when we were discussing in class if this or that technology will appear soon, we often forget to discuss the point that when will this technology become popular. The discovery of electricity was way before the light bulb was invented. What I am trying to say here is that it is useless with the discovery of the technology without putting it into practical use. Hence even though we may be able to achieve many breakthroughs in various fields of technology, majority of the population will not be able to experience the benefits that those breakthroughs have brought.

In conclusion, I think the technologies we saw in the video will possibly become real in 10 years’ time but we need at least 40-50 years to be able to achieve the popularity of those technologies as shown in the video.

Today is the last lesson of the term and I think the atmosphere is really good and class participation is good as well. Today I will give the lesson 9/10.

Session 9

Session 9

During last week’s session, prof had already told us that today’s session was going to be one of the most interesting sessions in the entire semester. Indeed, today’s session is really interesting and engaging. Many eye-opening videos broadened our imagination.

My key take away from this session is that nothing is impossible to be invented and when we say something is impossible to happen, it merely means that we are not imaginative enough. For example, prof showed us a video on the 3D printer, which said that scientist had successfully printed out a well-functioned organ. Honestly speaking this idea never even cross my mind before and this further shows that our imagination is very limited and thus when we see or hear some interesting ideas, do not reject it instantly.

There is something I would like to address here. It is the topic discussed by one of the presenter. She talked about virtual world, which I think is a double-edged sword technology. It is true that this development has many advantages such as stress relief. However, the underlying social impact is something we cannot ignore. In the current days, computer game addiction among teenagers is following an increasing trend. More and more kids get drown in the virtual world where they can do almost anything they want. From a psychological point of view, it is true that the virtual world will provide us a place where we can relieve ourselves and do things that we cannot do in the real world. Many people also found their confidence through playing computer game. However, these factors contribute to the increasing trend of gaming addiction, which should be stopped. Therefore, if this technology becomes available, it will worsen the current situation by many folds. More and more kids will drop out from school and facing more serious problems than just addiction to computer game. They may refuse to live in the real world, as there are just too many things that are not going the way they want. Hence if government allows the development of this technology, a strict set of rule should be implemented to prevent these social problems from worsening.

Regarding the issue whether AI will overthrow human one day, I think that at least in the near future it is still something only happening in the science fiction. Of course I will not deny that one day this may happen to us. To me the problem is not whether this will happen or not but what are we going to do to prevent it from happening. Maybe a set of law should be implement on how much development the scientist can go in terms of AI technology. Maybe it is not feasible but it is just my opinion as it will be too late to regret when one day we are living in the once science fiction world.

Overall I rate this session 9.5 out of 10 as the session involves many interesting discussions and sharing. 

session 8

Today we had our 9^th session and the topic we discussed in class was Energy. It is a really interesting topic and I learnt many interesting facts through this lesson.

One of the points I think really interests me is the way Germany encourage the installation of solar panels. The government is trying to promote the use of solar power among its people by giving cash incentives.  Each household is allowed to sell the electricity to the grid at a higher price and then buy from them at a lower price when they need to use. Therefore not only electricity becoming free but also allows the residence to make a small profit out of it. I think this incentive is a very good way to promote solar energy. This makes me wonder why Singapore does not have any form of incentive for solar energy.  Geographically Singapore has its natural advantage, as there is sufficient sunshine throughout the year. By providing incentives, many private house owners will be willing to install the solar panel.  The only problem in Singapore is that most of our housing are high rise building so solar power is unable to provide enough energy for the residence however, the government still should promote this green technology. This technology is still not fully mature yet but I believe one day it will and it will be too late to start to raise the awareness among people by then. Therefore, I feel that our government should implement some policies to encourage solar power and raise the awareness of its people.

Towards the end of class, there is a discussion about whether country should be punished for causing severe pollution. In my opinion, the country should be punish because that is simply the best way to deter the country from polluting as well as setting a deterrence for other countries. The best way to punish the country I think is through economy sanction. It is true that it will be a tough decision as there is no proper guideline on the standard of pollution and also it is very hard to track the exact amount of pollution the country is emitting. Therefore a collaborative effort is needed within the region such as ASEAN.  When one country is been noticing for pollution problem, other neighbouring countries should warn the country for bring the matter to international court.

There are also interesting presentations near the end of the lesson. I think the idea of putting magic tricks into the presentation is a brilliant idea as it is able to catch the attention of the audience.

Overall I rate this lesson 9/10 due to the interesting topic as well as enthusiastic discussion and presentation.

Session 7

Session 7

Today’s lesson mainly focuses on the bio business in terms of food and other products. Agricultural revolution is also covered during class. The GM food discussion brought about good discussions during the class. I guess this topic is something everyone interested and it is present in everyday life.

Agriculture revolution brought about by Norman Borlaug significantly improves the agriculture methods and yield of production. As a result, we are now able to produce more crops on the same piece of land. Not only the yield of production is improved, the crops are now more drought resistant or pest resistant depending on the situation of the land and thus protect the interests of the farmers and provide a steady food supply worldwide.

The genetically modified food even till today still many people doubt its safety to health. It is not proven that the GM food is definitely not harmful to the body but personally I am willing to give it a try because at least it is proven that within 10-20 years it is very safe. Moreover, some GM food are much more nutritious and delicious so I am willing to consume it and promote its popularity. I have eaten this genetically modified watermelon, which the peel is only one fifth the thickness of a normal watermelon. Moreover, it is seedless and very sweet. If this genetically modified watermelon become popular,  I believe that the demand of it will be large and few people will actually think about if it is safe to eat.

The issue I want to discuss about is that even though current technology allows us to grow or produce many kinds of resources, I think we should not rely too much on technology but to reexamine our needs and greed. It is true that in the near future we may be able to grow almost everything we need but in order to solve the root problems that happen to our mother earth, we need to reduce our greed for material wealth.  As Mabatma Gandhi has said,” there is enough on this planet for everyone’s need but not for everyone’s greed.” No matter how much we can produce, if our greed keeps expanding, the earth will never be able to recover from the damage we have incurred on it. Hence in my opinion, while we are developing new technologies to allow us to use the resources more efficiently, we must start to educate our next generation the good practices such as taking public transport, recycle reuse and reduce etc.

Overall I give this lesson 9/10 as the topic is interesting and the discussion is in depth.

Session 6

TWC Session 6

Today’s lesson is one of the most interesting sessions I had so far. Today’s topic is on bio-business and bioscience development. Many controversial discussions were conducted during class and I had a meaningful and engaging time.

Prof started off the lesson with a quote from Albert Einstein,” There are only two ways to live your life.  One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” I think this quote is extremely important to us as young adults.  We should adopt a willing-to-learn attitude and hold our curiosity towards things around us. The society will only improve if people are able to spot the flaws in current technology and constantly make improvement on it. Hence a right attitude and right posture of heart is very important for the overall development of mankind.

One interesting point that caught my attention was the discussion about the superbug brought up by Kelly during presentation. I would like to emphasize one key point that doctor ought to give his patient the most effective and affordable medicine even though there is a risk of producing “superbug”. I think there is an ethical issue here, as the doctor should provide the best for the patients since the patients place their trust fully onto you. However, we cannot ignore the problem of “superbug” which will post a severe threat every society in the world. Hence I think in order to solve the problem without compromising on the ethical part is through education and raise awareness about the issue. There is a significant amount of people in the public do not or not sure about the cause of the “superbug” and more importantly they do not understand the importance of its prevention. Hence government has to raise the awareness through publicity just like how they educate people about smoking. Besides, the doctor should also explain to the patient the importance of taking full cycle of their medicine and the severe consequences that may be resulted if they do not obey. I think through these methods, the problem of “superbug” should be able to ease to a certain extend.

Another issue I would like to discuss about is the designer baby. I think there are sufficient discussions during the class and I think most people agree that it is ok to genetically modify the baby if he is suffering from some natural defect. I think a set of regulation should be in placed in order to stop these arguments from going on and on. The regulation should include that under what situation it is ok to modify the baby and what kind of modification is prohibited. The rules should be agreed by majority of the countries around the world and with these common understanding, abuses of such technology and other ethical problems will disappear.  

I shall rate today’s class 9 out of 10 due to the overwhelming response and really interesting discussion topics. Looking forward to more exciting lessons in the following week.