What is the next revolution?
What revolution would you like to see?
I posed this question to my sister and sister in law who are both surgeons, and asked them to consider medical journals from 100 or 200 years ago that didn’t even include hand washing or sterilizing instruments. Those developments revolutionized medicine. I asked them to then think of 100 years in the future and what would have been developed and what we would now consider barbaric. They both thought for the same 30 seconds and then replied in unison, “remote operations.” They explained, “The operating field would be so much more sterile if the only person in there were the patient.”
I posed this question to my sister and sister in law who are both surgeons, and asked them to consider medical journals from 100 or 200 years ago that didn’t even include hand washing or sterilizing instruments. Those developments revolutionized medicine. I asked them to then think of 100 years in the future and what would have been developed and what we would now consider barbaric. They both thought for the same 30 seconds and then replied in unison, “remote operations.” They explained, “The operating field would be so much more sterile if the only person in there were the patient.”
Imagine yourself looking back upon now from 100 years in the
future. What have we realized? What revolution do you envision
happening?
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ReplyDeleteWhat a great question Maija!
ReplyDeleteI think one of the revolutions that will occur (or continue however you want to look at it) is the ever continuing connection of our lives through technology. For instance, today I did homework with a friend in our major's computer lab because it is a convenient space for us both to work together. In the future I see that space being filled with a connection between our two respective home work stations. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram will coincide with our counter, pencils, and E2 paper. You will be able to collaborate in real time with friends and colleagues without ever leaving the comforts of your own home or cubicle. I believe that within a century our children will look back and think the idea of walking to a "computer lab" was a waste of time and barbaric.
Kit, I like your idea because it would make things so much more convenient and easier to "meet" without actually meeting. However, how important are face-to-face interactions? I know that for our generation, texting is an important form of communication and so is this blog where we can discuss our ideas; but what is missing from the intangibility of these forms of communication? Is something lost by not being able to read body language, facial expressions, and reactions of a friend in real time? Some of these questions can be addressed by using Skype and other video software, but is there still something missing from the virtual world that only the physical world can fulfill?
DeleteI completely agree with you Cat. I am simply predicting that the trend will continue to some extent. It would truly be a shame to lose all legitimate person-person interaction. Perhaps we will see daily life split decisively into times when we are "alone" yet completely connected to others and times where we are in the actual physical vicinity of one another. It will be interesting to see which yields greater ideas, production, and personal memories.
DeleteThe school I work at received a grant for every student to check out an iPad for the school year. Many teachers are switching over from traditional printed home and class work and are now using the iPads almost exclusively in their classrooms. I know that technically it is possibly to operate entirely via a tablet (there is a student in many of my classes who does everything on his iPad). One revolution in coming years will be in our school supplies. I believe we will come to a point where we all use tablets and computers exclusively to get any and all work done. The idea of a paper and pencil will seem barbaric.
ReplyDeleteA major revolution in education is to eliminate drudge-grading from K-12 teachers. It is reasonable to give detailed and thoughtful feedback on essays and mathematical proofs. It is not reasonable to by eye check off fixed answers on a 5th grader's math homework. One reason K-12 education is not a career choice for so many people is the grading. It is really deadening, as I hear from all my K-12 teacher friends. Better K-12 teachers means better education. This transition is already happening. My own children read and do math online: they find it more enjoyable and it frees up the teacher to do so many more interesting things in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteYes, I once failed a geometry quiz because I thought of another way to solve an equation other than the formulas we had been taught. My answer was correct, yet I still got an F!
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