Monday, November 11, 2013
The Next Big Thing
History is full of examples of new technological innovations and the resulting impact that they had on human society. Sociologist Gerhard Lenski has referred to this process of societal change, resulting from the acquisition of new technology, as sociocultural evolution. Historically speaking, some new inventions have had more of an impact on society than others; some have ushered in changes so great that it eventually led to an entirely new type of society being born (for example, the computer ushered in the post-industrial or information society). As we begin our unit on Industrialization, I ask you to speculate . . . what will be "The Next Big Thing"? What new technology will have the biggest impact on our society and usher in the next phase of sociocultural evolution?
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Virtual Reality would be one. Not like the modern day type of virtual reality but something that can tap into your brain. It could help soldiers on a whole other level. The army have stated that they use some video games for solder training on how to teach them war tactics but if you give them something that could tap into your brain and cause you too see it right in front of you, they would be more focused and everything would be so much more real, like they were on the battlefield. Training would be taken so much more seriously than. This wouldn’t only help soldiers but think of people who have dreamed to be on a spaceship with their role model (actor or actress). They would fight alongside them. Maybe not just for battle but even enjoying a calming scenery or even having a vacation right in your own home but having the feeling of being at the the beach, hang gliding, or even a ride at disney land! This could also help with school. It could help with active rather than passive experience, immersive experience means no distractions, immediate engagement: useful in today’s world of limited attention spans, exploration and hands on approach aids with learning and retention, it would help with understanding complex subjects, theories, or concepts, and it would be suited to all types of learning styles. These are a few of the many benefits of using virtual reality as a teaching aid.
ReplyDeleteTessa Laramie
Personally, I think the next big thing is the robot. We all have been waiting for this masterpiece to be finished and everyone’s excited to see what it can and will do. There are an infinite amount of possibilities that the robot can do. Let’s face it, robots and machinery will get smarter by the minute and will eventually be smarter than us humans. Once they’re at this stage, we will no longer be able to command them. They will live their own life and do things no man could believe. They could be peaceful, help our human race, make us immortal, and lots more. Unfortunately, there is one downside to making these robots. They could do such evil things like wipe out all life on Earth, including humans, and become the dominant rulers of the Earth. A lot of TV networks have discussed this situation like Discovery and History. They have discussed what possible abilities robots could develop when they become smarter than humans. They could do such peaceful or evil things. This risk of robots wiping out the humans is enough to make millions of people to believe that robots should never be built. There are tons of mobs out there holding signs saying stuff like “Keep robots dead” and all that. We are still going to build robots and take the risk of what they’re going to do. These are very exciting times; asking a lot of questions about the near future and how the next generations will be like and what ever the risks are, no doubt that there’s still some great things on the horizon.
ReplyDeleteKeary Johnson
I think the next big thing will be self-driving cars. This may not be the exact next big thing, but in the future I believe this would really benefit man kind. Imagine it, cars that are programmed to know where every other car is and know where you are going. All you would have to do is punch in the address and it would take the quickest route to that location. With self-driving cars, there would be; no accidents, you could text or call while driving, and maybe even do other things in the car you cannot do today safely. There would be no accidents because the car knows where every other car is so it would know when and where the car is going. You could text while in the car because you aren't even the one driving! The computer in your car is! You could also do other stuff like make sure your kids are behaving in the back seat or listen to music. You could even watch a movie on long trips! Also, the self-driving car would be powered by electricity and would automatically stop at the nearest charge station to be charged. Also, blind and handicapped people could now drive a lot more safely. There could also be some down-faults in this. This would probably be really expensive at first. Also, it would probably make us humans a lot more lazy, which would probably turn out to make more of the world's population obese. This is what I think will be the next big discovery of man kind.
ReplyDelete-Tyler Eddy