Week 5’s TWC has been particularly interesting as we were able to go deeper into a specific and exciting technology. Thus, I’m looking forward to the other specific technologies to be explored!
I’d like to share a few burning questions and insights I have gained this week:
1.In a futuristic world where national boundaries no longer exist, will it still be possible to preserve national character, societal tradition and language?
At first, my instinctive response was that they appear as dichotomies of each other. My initial thought process was that if people were no longer constrained by any sort of constructs of nationhood, then it seems a contradiction to think that the diversity of language (a characteristic of national identity) will be preserved.
However, after hearing Prof’s explanation that a majority of people remain rooted to their home countries/ place of long-term residence in a current modern world where transnational human movement is increasingly accessible, and with some internal reflection afterward, I’ve become clear why this is indeed possible. In fact, it is a sort of phenomenon that is happening right now.
Vast advancements in transportation and ICT has given rise to global citizens- the world’s affluent, and foreign immigrants split their time between their home countries and other places for work and leisure. This is an example of how national boundaries have become easily transcended. Yet, we are also seeing a rise in protectionism, from countries such as the United Kingdom, France and Switzerland. Even in Singapore, there has been a spike in debate and worries about the influx of immigrants causing an erosion of our local culture. Some countries are responding by trying to close themselves against foreigners, while others are utilising ICT to strengthen and maintain their national identity so as to better integrate foreigners. Thus ICT is partly responsible for both the growing irrelevance of territorial borders and the maintenance of cultural diversity.
2.Will the world’s rural populations be able to capitalise on ICTs if they were made available to them?
A popular instinctive response would be of concern that these populations lack the skills and education to utilize ICTs in ways that improve their standards of living. However, a major flaw in this argument is the assumption that ignorance through the lack of exposure and experience means that rural peoples will not be able to appreciate ICTs. These people, just like urbanites, have traits like curiosity, flexibility and dynamism which will actually enable them to adapt and make productive use of ICTs quickly. In the specific example of the aids pandemic in parts of Africa, NGOs and individual do-gooders are bringing in ICTs as a major and effective way to educate the public about HIV and the availability of treatment. There have been more and more efforts to provide technical education and accessibility of ICTs in rural places all over the world. Evidently, it is inaccurate to over-generalize that all rural populations have no interest in ICTs, or are incapable of capitalising on them.
3.The TWC readings and class for this week has also gave me a greater awareness of the true relationship between technological ideas and their application to a practical function in response to needs in daily life. From Prof’s blogged response to Microsoft’s Project Natal, I’ve begin to realise that I myself have failed to fully recognize how an idea and invention in a particular industry (in this instance, the gaming industry) can be applied to medical, childcare, IT etcetera to address very real and urgent needs. In other words, a single technology idea is often applied and useful in a wide variety of fields.
Inversely, many different technological ideas and inventions can work together to bring about a shared objective. For example, in EPN’s video on web 3.0, a semantic web would be able to combine GPS, weather forecasting and information technologies to automatically provide a driver with the most comfortable route from point A to point B.
Therefore, what I appreciate most is my clearer perspective of how there is an intricate interplay between technological inventions and functions, rather than a simplistic matching of one invention to one function.
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