Week one

Week one was interesting to me. An introduction round the class was underway and I am reminded of the uniqueness of mankind.

Timeline of man was fascinating. To actually see before my eyes in chronological order many cultural, racial as well as religious events. It was something special. The facts. What happened. Who conquered.

This brings us to Yali's Question:

"Why do white men have so much cargo, and we so little?"

1) Many would attribute it to geography, culture, idealogy, invention, opening up of trade routes... The list is long. It is difficult to pinpoint how mankind went from hunters and gatherers to a professional, organised and complex system in a concrete jungle yet there can be countless explanations.

2) A phrase caught my attention. "We are in exponential times" I believe that change/ progress occurs exponentially. The Africans who were backward in the use of metals, herding etc, could eventually not catch up and could only stand in owe of flying metal planes and cargo that came along.

 3) Perspective/ Resistance to change
Cannot remember the exact contributor of the opinion. However the idea driven across was that, the hunter gatherer Africans were intrinsically happy. Combined with the usual inertia against change, the transition to herding, building cities would take a while. On the other hand, other societies blossomed. Readings were interesting, providing information on how mankind involved, developed, specialised, fought, conquered, multiplied, researched. While the middle east was the most advanced at a certain point in time as the West was in a slump we all know as "The Dark Ages", one cannot help but wonder how the Middle East established their dominance in the first place. Perhaps, the Middle East got the best of both the developing East and West, being strategically located on the Silk Road. They learned from the East, traded with the West, improved on discoveries. Meanwhile.. On the less explored continent of Africa, the huntsmen and gatherers sourced for their food, as we were originally designed for genetically...


Points for discussion:

1) Technology and world change in the modern context: It is a double edged sword. However, are we outdoing ourselves by as much as we do? Before we fully utilise what we have.. It becomes obsolete!

2) Are we "Over-developed"? (Developed too much such that we cannot function efficiently)


 Rating: 7/10 A good start. Some broad questions remain. They seem to pave the way for many more intermediate objectives to be achieved and questions to be answered.