Ten Tent Ten

Brief Overview/Summary
In today's session, we discussed about technology assessments and forecasting

We are often too focused on extrapolating that we forget that "working backwards" is often more effective than the opposite way! Some examples highlighted through the videos and discussions include trend analysis, technology roadmapping, simulation modelling. (Thanks Prof for explaining about technology roadmapping!)



Interesting Observations and Ideas
An interesting topic which was brought up is having GPS embedded in a person's shoes and even blood or body! Although this may seems very far fetched, looking at the current popularity of GPS among consumers and even developers, such a technology is actually rather possible to invent and implement. All it requires is a merger between biology and engineering, which is already an existing and also booming industry. Although having GPS stuck to a person 24/7 may seems to be a serious intrusion of personal privacy, it cannot be denied that this technology could potentially save lives in cases of emergencies (e.g. a kidnap case or missing person case).

One particular quote which caught my attention is "The present is pregnant with the future" by Voltarie. Perhaps it's due to a tiny motherly instinct in me? This quote really had an impact on me. I imagined the present to nurture and grow the future... just like how a baby grows within a mother's womb. And how the mother cares for the baby, through her diet and lifestyle, directly affects the growth of the foetus. Similar, how we take care of the environment now would directly impact the future, as the results of our actions would only surface in the future. And just as how there will still be a limitation to how a mother can predict and control the baby's growth (still depends on the genes and a little on fate), no matter how much we try to predict the future, there will still be unknowns and unexpected outcomes.

Key Takeaways
One key takeaway is definitely "work from the back if you don't know how to step forward!"
Sometimes, by taking a step back, the view is a lot clear. If one can, not only step back, but even "rewind" to back track from a particular expected outcome... it would make innovations and developments much easier to achieve!!!

Issues for Further Discussion 
I would love to have more air time to be given to the process of working from the future instead of towards it. Perhaps a particular mechanism could be used to discuss this issue in detail :)
 
Personal Ratings
7/10