Technology and change

In the first week of lessons for TWC, 2 main ideas brought up was first, about technology and change, and secondly, about the different rates of progress for different civilizations.
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During lesson, it was highlighted that technology and the rate of its development & impacts are growly exponentially. The use of the word "development" stood out to me as I too, wrestled with the idea as to whether technology was more beneficial or harmful.
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On the positive side, technology has enabled us to live much more comfortable with the invention of mobile vehicles and mass transport, and also enabled ideas to be exchaged easily through the internet and sophisticated communication devices.
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On the flip side, technology has also led to the invention of weapons, ranging from ones with small impacts such as guns, to those which can totally devastate an entire nation such as nuclear bombs. It seems that the technology that could propel us into a future of limitless possibilities could also be the one to destroy it.
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I believe, the key lies in how we decide to use technology and whether we can overcome our own selfish desires and work together towards a better future.
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Then there was also the topic about the different rate of progress for different civilisations. Someone mentioned that geographical differences had a major hand in this and I totally agree with him. However, I feel that the presense of a capable leader or government to direct the community towards a common goal could also be a major factor. One example could be that the China was united under the Emperor Qin Shi Huang, and this could have led to its gain in political and military power.
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I believe that understanding the cause for these differences could provide us the knowledge we need to further improve our current society based on the lessons of the past.
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I wish that we could have debated more about the origins of the human civilization. This would offer a me a different point of view as opposed to my current stand on Creationism. The idea of evolution and the survival of the fittest are ideas that I have been less exposed to and would be essetial that I do not possess a lopsided view of the world.
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I would rate the lesson at 7 as I feel that it has opened up my perspective to alot of issues around me. However, it would be great if we were to dwelt in deeper into these subjects.
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Matthias