2nd Lesson

As one of presenters for this week's lesson, I had to find an article that was able to depict the topic on Technology, Society and Global Dominance. After much consideration, I decided on researching about China and America, since they are the mega players in the global arena now.

Using the characteristics that were listed about the falling and rising stars, the Shahi Organizational Behavior Model has been a great help when I relate to my article- Think Again, American Decline. For example, the formation of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) consists of strong and emerging stars, whereas Western countries like Europe, USA and UK have been declining significantly after the recent global economic crisis. Not only that, I feel that we can actually apply this model into our daily lives to spur us to be more open-minded and hungry for knowledge. 

In one of the readings- "The colonial holocaust and its legacy", I found it fascinating because the article provided a totally different perspective of the European colonial masters. Though I cannot deny that the article is slightly biased, it portrayed how the countries were exploited of their resources and the suffering of the locals. All along, I have been always taught the positive effects of colonization. However, we have forgotten how the weaker countries have been helpless and robbed of their choice to decide for themselves, but only to surrender and succumb to the stronger powers instead. 

After watching the youtube video of The Millennium Development Goals for 2015, I felt quite emotional. Like what Prof has mentioned, we definitely have the ability to make this world a better place to live in. It is saddening to see that most of the times, we dedicate these resources into profit-making opportunities instead. As quoted from Albert Einstein, "It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity." On the other hand, we should also acknowledge the efforts put in by some commendable individuals and organizations, who have contributed much to this great cause. Hence, the idea of giving back to society, like philanthrophy and corporate social responsibility should be strongly encouraged in today's world. 

I also thought that the video by Hans Rosling- 200 countries, 200 years, 4mins was very interesting, especially his way of presenting the statistics in 3D. Imagine incorporating this style of learning into the education system, I am sure lessons will definitely become more exciting for the students.

For this week's lesson, it was rather interesting as we kicked off the individual presentations by "guest lecturers". Having enjoyed the youtube videos shown and presentations given by my fellow classmates, I would rate 8/10 for this lesson, as it had been quite thought provoking for me on some of the issues raised during discussion.