“My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there” –Charles Kettering-
A very simple phrase, yet it compels us to think about it and reminds us that we have to be forward thinking.
As cliché as it may sound, prevention is better than cure, and preparation is required in order to deal with unforeseen circumstances.
With the current rate of development of technology, it is important that we are able to assess it and forecast where our developments are heading and hence create new management guidelines and methods in order to manage these new developments. Imagine a country without any traffic light systems to manage the traffic flow. Or a public transport infrastructure with no one to manage it. Accidents will be happening everywhere and the whole city will be in chaos!
It is important to forecast technology too so as to know where we should be investing in! We have to analyze each upcoming technology, the progress of the development, and then decide whether the technology is feasible or not. Definitely, we do not want to invest precious time and money into something that will not give returns. Furthermore, we are all facing limited resources and it is important that we allocate them wisely.
This ties in closely with reading 1, which acts as a guide or manual to teach us how to analyze and how to expect what is to come in the future. However, I feel that it is not necessary to go through all the 17 steps. Sometimes, to achieve great things, we will have to take higher risks. As they say, “higher risks, higher returns.” If we were to follow what reading 1 tells us to do, we are following a very conservative method and for risky developments that have potential and may be ground breaking will be neglected and left untouched.
Reading 2 tells us about “futurology”, which is basically the scientific study of the future. I feel that this whole issue is very subjective and It really depends on how the futurist feel and think the future is heading towards. Now, noone can predict the future. Instead of trying to predict it, I feel that we should be focusing on how to deal with the future and how to cope with the changes coming up. It also talked about how science fiction had molded the way people think about in the future. It acts as an inspiration for people to continue to work on so as to achieve even greater things than what futurologist may come up with. The main difference is that futurologist will tend to be bounded by scientific limitations and models to follow, however science fiction has no boundaries and hence greater ideas are created.
This is addressed by reading 3, which focuses more on roadmapping the future of technology. It is a more systematical approach to foresee the development of technology in future and it is easier to access it and hence see if we are following the roadmap. This helps make policy makers implement policies more efficiently and helps investors make better and more well informed decisions.
“It is said that the present is pregnant with the future” –Voltaire-
Come to think of it, it is very true. Like how a woman feeds the baby in her tummy, we are feeding the future and hence what we are doing now will affect the future! What we do now will shape what the future will look like. Hence, whatever decisions we make now should be made carefully so as not to take the wrong route down in the future. Basically, it boils down to the fact that technology is neutral! It is only how we choose to use it.
Reading 4 talked about how it is important that we not only take the view of one body to assess where technology is going. Instead, it is important that we include the general public and take into account their views on where technology is going so as to have a better perspective of it.
Presentation 1 by Hanah Chua talked about how it is important that we also look into the ethical aspects as we access technology. I feel that a balance must be drawn. As long as the technology would not harm any group or minorities, I feel that we should move on. Furthermore, as a peer mentioned in class about how the technology can in the long run in fact benefit the minority, it is critical that we do not cut the technology without analyzing and looking at the long-term effects and benefits of the technology.
Today’s lesson covered a very important concept on how we should access technology and make appropriate and wise decisions on how we should use it and develop it. Hence, I rate today’s lesson a 9/10.
-Thong Yong Sen (Matthew)-
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