It's hard to believe that this assignment initiates the fourth quarter, which reminds us
that the end of the year is is sight!
In honor of the Industrial Revolution, which was the topic of several lectures, this assignment will focus on the modern technological revolution, which shares many characteristics with the era we studied. Every day you observe developing technologies and their results, and it hardly surprises anyone when some new invention or website appears that seems to change everything.
Your assignment will focus on some current inventions and changes that perhaps aren't as visible but still hold great importance. Please visit the RAND Corporation website to see a report about observations and predictions for the year 2015. RAND (Research and Devlopment) has been around for decades (same people that make the RAND/McNally maps) as a non-profit "think-tank", providing information to the government, researchers, and businesses in order to help them make better decisions.
Go to the RAND report and read and report on one of the following sections: THE REVOLUTION OF LIVING THINGS; THE REVOLUTION OF MATERIALS, DEVICES, AND MANUFACTURING; or META-TRENDS AND IMPLICATIONS. (Feel free to read the complete report, but it's rather lengthy). In your report answer the following questions: Are the changes, as a whole, an improvement for humanity? Of the concerns mentioned, which seems most important to you, and why? And finally, if you were asked to make a single prediction in the area upon which you are reporting for the year 2050, what would it be?
Be sure to follow the requirements for these assignments. They have a great impact on your grade!
In honor of the Industrial Revolution, which was the topic of several lectures, this assignment will focus on the modern technological revolution, which shares many characteristics with the era we studied. Every day you observe developing technologies and their results, and it hardly surprises anyone when some new invention or website appears that seems to change everything.
Your assignment will focus on some current inventions and changes that perhaps aren't as visible but still hold great importance. Please visit the RAND Corporation website to see a report about observations and predictions for the year 2015. RAND (Research and Devlopment) has been around for decades (same people that make the RAND/McNally maps) as a non-profit "think-tank", providing information to the government, researchers, and businesses in order to help them make better decisions.
Go to the RAND report and read and report on one of the following sections: THE REVOLUTION OF LIVING THINGS; THE REVOLUTION OF MATERIALS, DEVICES, AND MANUFACTURING; or META-TRENDS AND IMPLICATIONS. (Feel free to read the complete report, but it's rather lengthy). In your report answer the following questions: Are the changes, as a whole, an improvement for humanity? Of the concerns mentioned, which seems most important to you, and why? And finally, if you were asked to make a single prediction in the area upon which you are reporting for the year 2050, what would it be?
Be sure to follow the requirements for these assignments. They have a great impact on your grade!
I chose to do my essay this week on the revolution of living things and the topic of biotechnology. By the year 2015, food processing, crime, life expectancy, disease, etc. will be greatly improved, according to this site. The changes such as disease control and custom drugs, will help get humanity improved and on track. Through these new advances, the rate of life expectancy will increase. The most important concern, in my opinion, is the increased lives through prosthetics. I believe that these great inventions are a huge advancement to those who need it. Someone who was born with a birth defect involving one of these limbs or external body parts or who lost a part due to wars or surgeries would greatly be affected by an invention to help them move freely. I also think that the idea of custom drugs are important. Many medicines or prescriptions can work with multiple diseases which creates it to be less powerful and effective. Creating custom drugs would help those with a serious disease to heal at a faster rate because their medicine would be designed for their sickness, only. If I was asked to make a single prediction in the area upon which I am reporting for the year 2050, it would be very different than it is right now. I believe that it would be even more advanced in technology. I also believe that many cures for serious diseases, such as cancer, would be made, causing life rates to increase. However, God is the only one who knows what that time will be like.
ReplyDeleteExcellent job McKenzie! You wrote your essay very smoothly and clear. I agree that prosthetics are a very important part of medical health, and they are something that could improve greatly over the years to come. Your points about how medical drugs could be customized to better help illnesses or pain were very intelligent and well thought out. By the way, congratulations on being selected for achieving the Timothy Award (you definitely deserved it)!!! :-)
DeleteGreat essay McKenzie! It was very well wrote and I enjoyed reading it!
Deletei luv dis blog. i feel so eduncated. hallelujer.
ReplyDeleteMy report this week is on the revolution of living things, the first statement that I would personally enjoy stating that the whole idea of evolution is something to be questioned in its self as I am a strong Christian I refuse to believe that man can evolve things like they’re the gods of this world. I can see in the second article that we believe through medicine we will become an almost indestructible life force. I can also see in this article a lot of resemblance to the early 1900s its odd in a way to see history repeat itself this could also be a hint of where our economies going too. The third article is somewhat taboo in our society today I mean you think about fifty years ago there is no way on this earth we would think that we could clone a human being. Even if we did produce another human from human engineering there would be no way for it to have a soul for only God can produce a soul. In the last article it says that religious, environmental, ect should not be getting in the way of this pursuit of biomechanics that we should just accept it. With me being the strong man of God I am I believe that we should stand up for our beliefs and fight against these biomechanics trying to produce another living being out of our DNA which may I remind all of you was a divine creation of God
ReplyDeleteGood essay, Logan. I thought your essay was well written had a lot of good ideas. It definitely seems that a lot of the stuff that RAND is predicting as far as the revolution of living thing go against what we believe as Christians. Bio-mechanics and genetic engineering have always scared me, and i hope they never happen.
DeleteGood essay Logan! I really liked it and got a lot from it!
DeleteBy 2015 crime, life expectancy, disease, will be greatly improved, according to this thing I read. The changes in disease control and custom drugs will really help us become more susceptible and better at preventing these things from getting the best of us. With all these improvements our life expectancy will become higher and higher. One of the bigger things that should be able to help our lives is prosthetics. Anyone who gets the opportunity, it will be a huge advancement to those who need it. Anyone who has lost an arm or leg due to illness or war or anything in that nature would be affected by an invention to help them move freely. Also the idea of a custom drug is kind of awesome to think about. This drug is designed for like one type of drug. As you can tell by the name. This custom drug would help those with a serious disease to heal at a faster rate because their medicine would be designed for their sickness.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to say what people should expect or get ready for in the year 2050 I think that it could go two ways! Either becomes super awesome or it would be even worse than we are right now. But I hope that, with God’s help that we can get this debt under control and whatever President is in office at that time will look to God for answers so we can get back to “the good life.” Only God knows what can truly happen though.
Good essay, Abby. I thought that your essay had a lot of good ideas. I agree that it is important for who ever the president is in the future to look to God for guidance. I also agree that the idea of a custom drug is really cool.
Deletethis weeks essay will be about the future so that means that nothing in this essay will be fact. i thought the most interesting thing in the RAND essay was the smart clothes. clothes that adjust to the weather to keep you warm or cool you off these so called clothes also protect your wounds. and they can also give you medicine. but if we willl have there smart clothes that do all these cool things imagine what it will be like in 2050. well i know its in movies and everything and seams so impossible. but i think it is possible i doubt it but i think it is possible that computers could turn on us because they will start making decisions for their self and threes nothing that tells them their wrong because they make their own decisions. i don't think that if this happens it would be like robo destruction but i think that computers could get too smart and just like teenagers do stuff we dont want them too. but this is very unlikely so i dont think we should worry about it! it could be that in 2050 we will have our own robot maid and lots of other smart technologies that will make life easier for us. its hard to imagine what it will be like because it seems unreal to us in our day and age but think about it just about 7 or 8 years ago Apple didnt exist and computers were 100x slower than they are now and touch screen phones didnt exist. now over 90 percent of cell phones are touch screen. and this is over the course of 8 years. so the year 2050 is practically impossibe to predict.
ReplyDeletethis weeks essay is on the Life in 2015 will be revolutionized by the growing effect of multidisciplinary technology across all dimensions of life: social, economic, political, and personal. Biotechnology will enable us to identify, understand, manipulate, improve, and control living organisms (including ourselves). The revolution of information availability and utility will continue to profoundly affect the world in all these dimensions. Smart materials, agile manufacturing, and nanotechnology will change the way we produce devices while expanding their capabilities. These technologies may also be joined by "wild cards" in 2015 if barriers to their development are resolved in time.
ReplyDeleteThe results could be astonishing. Effects may include significant improvements in human quality of life and life span, high rates of industrial turnover, lifetime worker training, continued globalization, reshuffling of wealth, cultural amalgamation or invasion with potential for increased tension and conflict, shifts in power from nation states to non-governmental organizations and individuals, mixed environmental effects, improvements in quality of life with accompanying prosperity and reduced tension, and the possibility of human eugenics and cloning.
thanksss
We live in a society that is constantly changing in its use of technology. Every new generation is seeing rapid advancements in the world of devices. We have the philosophy of “the newer than new” in our brains. But what we are seeing in manufacturing now is just a glimpse of the world before us. Products, systems, and components will become more multi-functional, survivable, and customizable. For these reasons the changes as a whole will be an improvement for humanity. Our clothes, vehicles, and buildings will even have the ability to change depending on the current weather. By the year 2015, we are expected to have more agile manufacturing systems together with flexible methods of equipment. What most concerns me is that as more changes flood in, people will lose their desire to follow God. It is critical that we take a bold stand for the gospel. Along with agile manufacturing, nanofabricated semiconductor improvements will take place in hardware making it smarter and cheaper. Breakthroughs in research of drug discovery, genotyping, blood assays are predicted for the field of medicine. Just because so many things are predicted does not guarantee them for the future. Plans change and so do people for better or worse. The Mayan Indians predicted the world and life as we know it would come to an end on December 21, 2012, but it was obviously wrong. I do hope that by the year of 2050 childhood Leukemia, cancer in general, and migraines would be cured. We dream of a perfect world, but Heaven is the only place we will find true satisfaction.
ReplyDeleteWe live in a world where we are running on technology. Technology and new inventions seem like they come out with something bigger and greater. I will start with the revolution of living things. Biology is a very interesting subject that I enjoy a lot. What they talked about in the essay was a little/ amazing! It’s amazing to see that they are going to keep people alive for longer than the expectancy. That’s pretty impressive. On the other hand of eugenics and cloning, that’s crazy! You always see that in movies or a little cartoon, but, think that they are wanting to do this to real humans! The Revolution of materials, devices and manufacturing. Devices are always going to come out with bigger great things or better programs or something, and clothes and buildings that react to weather and wounds and everyday life, it’s mind boggling. I feel that the more we “progress” the more lazy we will become and it’s incredible to see what they are doing but I feel like it can hurt also. Lastly, Meta-trends and implications. How much faster can they create things? It seems like a said later that they constantly are coming out with new better things, and them competing to find a greater thing(s) it really is amazing. Is it an improvement? Yes and no. What’s to improve? What’s the purpose? I guess everybody feels different about it, but I think it does improve some things but as far improving us as Americans, no. It is no telling what will happen in 2050. My mind can’t comprehend it.
ReplyDeleteGood essay, Bethany. Your essay was very well written and you presented your ideas very well. I agree that while some of these changes are good many others are bad. I also agree that a lot of times as we "progress" we become more lazy.
DeleteThere is no question that the world is changing. For my assignment this week, I decided to write about the revolution of materials, devices, and manufacturing. Some of the changes in materials that RAND Corporation is predicting will take place by 2015 are smart materials like cloths that know the weather and can change themselves to keep you warm or cold. Some other changes that RAND is predicted are agile manufacturing, nanofabricated semiconductors, and molecular manufacturing (constructing materials molecule by molecule). Overall, I think that most of these changes are beneficial to mankind will help improve our way of life. At the same time, these changes will cost some people to lose their jobs but they will also create new ones. Three concerns that RAND poses about these changes are, reduced privacy, and cultural threats. Of all of these, the concern that is most important to me is class disparities. This concerns me more than the others because social injustice has always bothered me, and because when the rich become too rich and the poor become to poor, there is almost always political and social unrest which often leads to violence.
ReplyDeleteIf I was to make a prediction on what changes in materials, devices, and manufacturing will happen by the year 2050, it would be that we will have many new materials invented from atomic and molecular construction. I also think that by 2050 we will have the ability to change atoms of one substance to atoms of another by radiation.
The industrial revolution was very much like the modern technological revolution because it shares many of the same characteristics today. The world is rapidly changing today just like the industrial revolution. For this week’s assignment, we are to focus on the new inventions that still hold great impotence. I visited the RAND cooperation. General Henry H. Arnold developed the RAND Corporation, the commander of the US army. He did this so he could so the United States could look for future weapons. Since a lot of years ago, the Rand corporation has had a really big impact on the military strategy. I chose to do my report on the revolution of living things. The website has predicted that disease, malnutrition, food production, pollution, life expectancy, quality of life, crime, and security will be improved. They think that the quality of life will be increased and there will be a population increase and they believe that they may have the ability to clone people. In the year 2015, I will be graduating from high school. I believe that there will be a longer life expectancy rate because of new medicines and new science, but I do not think that there will be cloning. And I don’t think that their will be significant life expectancy. Maybe a little bit, but not at a drastically high rate. In the year 2050, there will probably be much much more advances in science and at the rate we’re moving, we could be able to do much more.
ReplyDeleteNice work on your assignment this week Lexie! I liked how you gave us background info on the website we visited. I agree with you that the life expectancy rate might increase a little, and that cloning is something that will only exist in the world of movies. God created very single person differently than another. Like our thumbprints, no two are alike. But we are created in the image of God. Great job!
DeleteFor this week’s assignment, I chose to write on the topic of The Revolution of Living Things. According to the Rand Report, by 2015 some of the world’s most devastating things such as diseases, crime, life expectancy, malnutrition, and many others will be improved, or at the very least be addressed in a more serious manner. When you think about it, 2015 isn’t that far away at all and some extremely important and significant changes are expected. Now to answer the questions in the prompt. First, I believe that some of the coming changes will improve society in some way, but truly only time will tell. Quality of life isn’t exactly measured on the ability or health of a person, but rather the person’s outlook on life and relationship with God. Of the predictions I read about, the one that is most important to me would be the advancements and improvements with medicines to help with memory. My grandmother suffers from moderate Alzheimer’s disease and it’s very frustrating to her to forget things important to her such as her children’s names-or even more severe- where she is. If we could create new medicines to help prevent such memory-related hindrances, I believe that it would be very beneficial. If I were to make a prediction for the year 2050 in relation to the revolution of living things, I would predict that there could a cure for cancer and/or other serious illnesses and disorders that affect our society today.
ReplyDeleteThank you,
Rebecca Dunmore
Sarah Flinchum- I really enjoyed reading your essay for this week’s assignment. I thought that your essay was clear, concise, and very informative. I agree with you about how our society in general is constantly changing due to the technology and technological advances. I also agree that we need a cure for leukemia and cancer in general, but also that heaven is the only perfect place. Overall, I thought you did a really great job on this week’s assignment.
ReplyDeleteBethany Cox- I also really enjoyed reading your essay for this week’s assignment. As usual, I thought it was really easy to read and was full of clear and interesting information. I agree with you that while we are making progress, we are also allowing ourselves to become lazy and are starting to rely more on technology for everything. Overall, great job on your essay this week!
Thank you,
Rebecca Dunmore
Sorry, my essay wouldn't post this week. Hope you got my email Mr. Akers! But here are my comments.
ReplyDeleteGreat job on your essay, Amanda!Your essay was full of information. I also did my essay on the revolution of living things and biotechnological studies. Again, great job.
Great job on your essay, Bethany! It was full of information and written quite well. Technology is certainly a predictor of human society. Again, great job on your essay.
Great job on your essay, Rebecca! As always, you have written an excellent essay. Your essay was full interesting facts and details that were neat to read. Technology is certainly a predictor of human society. Again, great job on your essay!
Great job on your essay, Bobby! Your essay was full of information and written very well. Technology is certainly a predictor of human society. Again, great job.
Great job on your essay, Sara! Your essay was full of information and written well. Technology is certainly a predictor of human society. Again, great job.
Awesome Job on your essay Rebecca! I think you provided it with a lot of great information and I loved how you put the quality of life in there! And how it is measured with how much and the relationship you have with God! That’s a great little input! Great Job!
ReplyDeleteBobby, great job on your essay!! It was very informational and well-written! I thought it was interesting how you said the political and other changes could lead to violence. I never thought about that, but that could very likely happen! Awesome Job!
Great Job on your essay Lexie! It’s kind of scary to see that in such a short time period drastic things could change in our world! It’s amazing to see the excitement that people have about new things and technology! In 2015 it’s no telling what they will have out by then! I guess we have to wait and see!
I chose to report on the revolution of materials, devices, and manufacturing. I believe it is defiantly an improvement for humanity. Some of the predictions were clothes that respond to weather, monitor vital signs, deliver medicines, and protect wounds. This could be a huge impact, mostly because it could save lives. Another was personal identification and security systems. Even though we already have these, they could be advanced into something better. One could be face recognition which would be very useful. We already have accurate security systems, so it would be neat to see how it improves. Buildings and vehicles that automatically adjust to the weather was another prediction. Vehicles that automatically adjusted to the weather would make it safer to drive for a number of reasons. It could help the car grip better to the road and slow down for ice or snow. Semiconductors and Microsystems are also expected to change. Both are expected to get smaller and cheaper to build. Although they are all important, one of the most important is the smart materials for environmental changes, specifically the car and clothes. I think car safety is very important because they are moving, metal death traps. We also almost drive in one every day. Car safety has defiantly improved in the past couple years. We even have cars that can parallel park themselves. A car that could adjust to the weather would make them that much safer. Clothes that could adjust to the weather, give medicine, and protect wounds would be a huge change for the medical field. Your clothes could protect you until help arrives, saving many lives.
ReplyDeleteBy 2015 life expectancy, and the prevention, of diseases will be greatly improved, according to the article I read. The changes in disease control and custom drugs will be very beneficial to us because it will allow us to become more susceptible and better at preventing sickness from getting the best of us. With all these improvements our life expectancy will become higher and higher. One of the bigger things that should be able to help our lives is prosthetics. Anyone who gets the opportunity will be lucky because it will be a huge advancement to those who need it. Anyone who has lost an arm or leg due to illness, war, or anything in that nature would be helped by an invention to help them move freely. Also the idea of a custom drug is kind of amazing to think about. This custom drug would help those with a serious disease to heal at a faster rate because their medicine would be designed for their sickness. If I had to say what people should expect or get ready for in the year 2050 I think that it could go anywhere. There could be great increase in the advances in our medicens or it could get worse. But I hope that, the president will be smart in his decions and that he will make the best decisions for our government.
ReplyDeleteThe industrial revolution was a lot like the current technological revolution because it shares many of the same characteristics. The world is changing fast now just like the industrial revolution. This week we were asked to talk about inventions that aren’t exactly visible but have a huge impact on life as we know it. I went to the RAND cooperation. General Henry H. Arnold developed the RAND Corporation while was the commander of the US army. He did this so the United States could look for future weapons. For many years, the Rand corporation has had a huge impact on the military strategy. I chose to do my report on the revolution of living things. The RAND site has predicted that disease, malnutrition, food production, pollution, life expectancy, quality of life, crime, and security will be improved. They believe that the quality of life will be increased and there will be a population increase and they feel that they may have the ability to clone people. Though there were many issues mentioned the lower life expectancy and quality of life predictions are what worry me the most. They worry me because it is extremely important to me that the family of mine that comes after me gets to live a long and happy life and I would hate for them not to be able to. My prediction for the year 2050 is that things will be vastly different. As important as technological advances are I don’t feel like my generation of Americans will be a huge part of any because hard work is more of an option than a way of living unlike other, rapidly growing countries.
ReplyDelete