Week 2

 Well, the second week was the first round of individual presentations which presented particularly intriguing ideas and issues for us to think about.

Brief Overview/Summary 
  The themes discussed in this session would be how countries, cultures, or even companies attempt to exert influence, in order to gain an advantage in their environments. Then, we looked at the development of technology and humanity over the times as a whole.

Interesting Observations and Ideas
  Prof talked about a brief overview of the world, and most interestingly the topic of colonialism and the atrocities committed in that era. Whilst Singapore's time under Britain was mainly positive, as the English helped to build the infrastructures which drove the economy in early Singapore, and even set up the basic structures of Singapore's governance. Yet, to compare, not all colonial efforts by the English were nearly as civilized, as stated, they often resort to slavery, genocide or other measures. However, there is also another group which we can draw parallels with, which are the Japanese. The Japanese took over Singapore, Malaysia and even large parts of China as their efforts to colonize for the development of the Asian regions, as they believed they were superior, thus they should lead. In these countries, Japan was seen as an aggressor, though, their efforts were not totally negative. In Taiwan, many of the older generations still remember the how the Japanese bought many benefits and development to a largely neglected by China. Thus, colonialism is largely determined by what governance does the colonist brings in, which would determine the period to be positive or negative.

  On Sylvester's presentation on eugenics, many of the views seem to sound extreme, however, it remains that there are many facts within his arguments. His ideas, are that we should embrace eugenics as a means for humans to evolve further, at the stance that if only superior genes are left, humans are able to improve intellectually based to just pure IQ. This would allow our further generations to maybe discover things faster, put resources to better use. Yet our average IQ has decreased in this few decades, due to less selection, as our environment and resources are spread out, such that all sectors of society is able to live and reproduce successfully, thus, bringing the quality of our gene pool down, due to a loss in selection pressures. Yet, wouldn't it be a type of selection pressure if you would say, since the loss is attributed to how successful humans are in controlling their environment, that this is the way nature is attempting to bring humans back to a more controllable level, by slowing down our development.

Key Take Away Points
  A main key take away point for me would be the rising star and falling star theory, it helps us to analyze various reasons why civilizations rise and fall. It is also a philosophical viewpoint that shows if we wish to continue to progress as a leading nation, we need to be hungry and willing to be receptive to all ideas.
  Another take away from this, is that whether we are willing, times change and if you do not move with it, you will be left behind. Yet if you move too fast, you risk facing many issues, such as genetic discrimination in the case of eugenics, like the movie Gattaca.

Issues for Further Discussion
  The time which we spend for the eugenics, more time could have been spent in the discussion of this radical topic, in which we should have examined the different concerns more closely. The discussion on the happiness index seems insufficient too due to time constraints. More suggestions could also been given to the presenters, on how should they improve their presentations.

Personal Ratings
  I would rate this lesson a 7/10, despite having so much interesting topics, the time management of the session was way off, making the coverage of the topics seem quite superficial, due to a lack of in depth discussion.