TWC Lesson 1

Brief Overview/Summary

Although I did not attend Prof Gurinder's first two lessons of TWC, I will still give a summary based on powerpoint slides as well as course readings.

Something struck me when I went through the powerpoint slides. Simple things that we, as people living in modern societies take for granted such as paper, writing, irrigation etc were regarded as breakthroughs that could shape human history at that time. What would happen if paper was not actually invented? Would many of today's technologies even exist? Would Einstein have been able to complete his theory of relativity had he not have paper to work on?

Interesting observations

I was extremely intrigued when I saw a particular page of the powerpoint slide, titled "The Future of the Human Race?". Assuming that people who read this do not entirely write off Darwin's theory of evolution, we can see that from the very first picture on the left to the second from the right, homo sapiens have certainly progressed by an incredible amount. However, as we begin to see more and more obese people resembling the person on the right corner, is this really the future that humans are destined to be trapped in?

Can technology, which we as humans, turn into friend or foe at will, aid us in avoiding this foreseeable disaster?

Key Take Away Points

Looking at the revolutionary developments in human history, I thought about another revolution which happened in between the Industrial Revolution and Agricultural Revolution, it was the Aviation Revolution.


The Wright Brothers had, in the early 1900s, invented the world's first successful airplane. This may be the case, but human attempts to fly had already dated all the way back to a few centuries ago, when a famous person by the name of Leonardo Da Vinci had made real studies of flight and sketched out a design of the ornithopter.

I came to a conclusion that you need not be the first to think of an innovation, but in order to be remembered as the inventer you have to be the first to succeed in that idea.

Putting myself in the shoes of a person living in an era before some of the innovations shown in slide 22 were invented, I would probably think of people who dreamed of them as crazy. However, because they had a vision that no one else could share, they dared to dreamed and try, etching themselves forever in history as great contributors to humanity. It got me thinking about some of the things that I dream about sometimes and whether they could indeed turn into reality in the next 10 or 20 years.

Issues for Further Discussion

I felt that the question by Yali which Jared Diamond had faced was one with many possible answers, and Diamond had only one answer, which was geograpical location. If the class had went into a collective discussion, even more avenues of answers might surface which could provoke even deeper thinking.

Another question I had in mind was, after reading of Guns, Germs and Steel as well as reading 4, why did the dominance of the middle east diminish? They had the best quality of crops and animals, as shown by the fertile crescent, and they were frequently one step ahead of their European counterparts in various fields such as medicine. I have several answers in mind, such as religious issues, but I would definitely like to hear what my peers have to say.

Personal Ratings for Session

I did not attend this lesson so I am unable to give a rating, but judging from the issues that the course readings and powerpoint slides raised, I am definitely looking forward to lesson 3.