SOSC 111 - Science Technology and Society Today:

Lesson 23

The Future and Our Role in It November 25, 1998 Dr. Vincent Duffy - IEEM http://www ieem.ust.hk/dfaculty/duffy/111 email: [email protected]

1

Administrative Issues

 Homework 3  presentations in class on Friday  written work due in class Friday  revisions can be turned until evening on Monday with no penalty (midnight).

 Final - Tuesday, December 15, 8:30-11:30, G017.  If any conflict, please tell me asap.

 tutorial 24 - Our role in the future

The Future....

 Q.1. Do you expect more or less technology? What do you hope for (more or less)?

 In your homeworks (part 2):  you correctly noted possible changes  political implications - possible misuse  social effects - difficulties of law enforcement  ecological issues - effects of increased population  personal issues - you may be replaced  In lecture -student comments  expect ever increased technology

Q.2. What will be our role?

 Need for  making money  social responsibility  faster response  Our role?

 Gathering information  Evaluating alternatives  Decision making  Working in groups  Imagining the effects  Maintain contact with others

Q.3. Our role : difficulties?

 Limited time?  The problems we face will require solutions soon.

 What about problems of larger scale?

 Who feels expert to make decisions that affect many people?

 Can we always try out the changes?  No, it is many times expensive to do the experimenting  Can’t just build an experimental bridge to Chek Lap Kok (Tsing Ma bridge), or build an experimental Hong Kong Stadium, or start Human cloning and if we dont like it just stop. Not so easy.

 Dont always have opportunity to try it out and see  We want to know/estimate the impact of the change

Our role: difficulties

 Who is expert?/Who is certain?

 difficulty in deciding?/expense in experimenting?  limited time?

 Group dynamics  How do we evaluate alternatives?

 Decisionmaking/All agree within group?

 Do all groups suggest the same?

 How do we estimate the impact of the change?

 what about for changes of larger scale (not toys)

Q.4. What does the in-class demo illustrate?

 Group dynamics. Why?

 Society will appoint groups to decide on key issues  What does it require to evaluate alternatives?

 It requires a lot of communication about the important issues  Decisionmaking/All agree within group?

 Not usually.  Do all consulting groups suggest the same?  No. Why?  All from different backgrounds. Problem? Yes, because...

 ‘We crave clear answers, but life presents us with with complication and inconsistency’ (Florman ‘96)  Who do we believe?

Who do we believe?

 What is required?

 Good leadership - something believable and true  What does that require?

 HBR study ‘tolerance for ambiguity’  ambiguity - lack of certainty, lack of clarity  most scientific facts are certain  technical challenge comes from deciding:  how to design when no clear cut, ideal solution exists  And for people?  The level of uncertainty rises, and so does the challege...

Big changes or small changes?

 Suggestions incremental or radical?

 likely they are incremental changes (small)  This is likely how your environmental problems will be addressed as well  How does the group look at the radical?

 strangely, right?

 Anybody suggest changing the design to be circle?

 too radical, unproven, can’t convince the group

Maintaining contact?

 Why is it important to maintain contact with old friends from the university and business colleagues? How do we maintain such contact?

 After you leave UST....

 You will expect the same standards of excellence when you go in the workplace  decision makers will choose  those who were trained like themselves

 Why?

 so they can ‘trust’ the new people  Some people say success is about  ‘who you know’  it is also about  how they know you, and why do they care to know you... in other words  how do you establish yourself in their eyes,  how do they view your capabilities, integrity, friendship

How do we maintain contact?

 Alumni groups  professional societies, (ASME, IIE, IEE, etc.)  intercollegiate athletic teams,  traditions, sometimes common school songs  Q.5. What is one tradition in your club?

 Thanks to Samuel Florman  recall: he wrote ‘why engineering is sometimes like baseball’  he also wrote the following…  tradition…a school song

 Through the years our paths may sever  and the best of friends may part  we’ll never forget fond memories  treasured within the heart  (make your own tune)  With karaoke of course