TWC - Week 10 Discussion

Future Technology.

In the class, we discussed all the different technologies which would be a life-changer: nuclear fusion technology, augmented reality, driverless cars and others.

Those are all cool technologies which would definitely sell when it become economically viable to purchase them.


Investment and financing of the researches constitute half of the battle for the scientists. First, they need to get the money or grant in order to start something, and then, they need to do the science and meticulous research to prove their hypothesis.

Now, there are many ideas and theories which are scrapped before researchers could even prove their ideas due to the lack of grant and money to do the research. I personally think that this filtering is absolutely necessary to uphold the quality of the research and prioritize the one with the highest benefit to society.

I would like to think of the logical steps needed to evaluate a research. On what measurement would we evaluate a research's value? Is a research on animals less important than the medical research on AIDS? How are we going to justify such a claim? Who will make such a claim? And who can give such a claim the weight of authority?

1. Research must be feasible, with adequate literature with which scientists could design the methodology and experiment, and yield certain result.
Human is a "loss averse" creature. It has been proven by Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman. .
Such characteristics made assessment of risks for investment portfolio an important thing. Investors do not like seeing their money lost, but is this the correct behaviour?


Future technologies are the brave new world of science. They are uncharted territories, which would require vast resources and effort to explore and discover. There is gain without any pain. When there is excess wealth, I personally think that it is better to invest in causes and researches which could potentially bring about great benefits to the society. It is not unlike what Bill Gates and Melinda Gates have been doing for the past decade. Their institutions have raised money to help to poor.


So, research need not be totally feasible when it starts, because breakthrough could not happen without breaking the limitations given to us. However, research should at least be based on certain empirical finding or observation before being approved for funding. T


2. Creation of Technology Assessment Organization.
A non-profit technology assessment organization with powerful think-tank team will bring credibility to the papers released by the organization. Such technology assessment organizations could potentially direct the scientific community's energy towards future goal.


The future awaits us.


Rating: 8/10