When Albert Einstein was questioned about the atomic bomb in the 1950s, he made a comment that “it has become appallingly clear that our technology has surpassed our humanity”. So more than sixty years ago, one the greatest scientists in history came up with the conclusion that human knowledge has fallen behind technology.

I agree with Syeda that the general crowd relies too much on technology. Common examples are our dependence on calculators, Wikipedia, Google, and our obsession with getting the latest cell phone updates, etc. However, those people that are behind the design of these machines must have had a certain knowledge capacity to make these machines function successfully. Therefore, are these people still being led by technology?

In the future, I think the relationship between technology and human knowledge will continue to be like a race. Society develops because technology advances, and technology advances because the human knowledge of a certain crowd is able to constantly produce more complicated machines. 

What do you guys think is the relationship between technology and human knowledge?

--Jessie Wu

While reading How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, I found myself repeatedly thinking about time travel because it is the principal theme in Yu’s book. In class when we were discussing the validity of time travel, someone in class mentioned that technically we are all time traveling. Time is progressing forward and we are moving with it. Whether this is considered time traveling or not depends on how you define time travel. Yu defines time travel as “any journey in which the interval of time experienced by the traveler is not equal to the interval of time measurable by those not traveling with them” (215). According to Yu, we aren’t time traveling. Do you agree with Yu’s definition of time travel or do you think we are all technically time travel by living life?

Another idea that I found really interesting was the concept that two timelines run simultaneously when you time travel. This is based on the assumption that time travel itself requires time. Yu is in his time machine for about 10 years, but in real time only a week has passed. I had never thought about this because I had always assumed time traveling would be instant.

I don’t know much about time traveling, so I was wondering what other people thought about the logistics of time travel that Yu brought up in his book or about time travel in general, such as the physics of it. 

- Michelle Fong

Continuing on the topic of women and technology, I found this blog on the New York Times website: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/15/a-day-to-remember-the-first-computer-programmer-was-a-woman/?_r=0

I found this article very relevant since I am hoping to major in computer science myself, and also since Silicon Valley is such a big part of the bay area. The statistics referenced in the article further support Janice’s and Isabella’s points about women being underrepresented in scientific fields.

On a side note, I think it’s very interesting that the very first computer programmer was a woman (Ada Lovelace), and also that she was featured in one of the poems of Periodicity!

- Mark Craig

This is one of the prompts written by Geon Woo Lee: How would you respond if technology surpasses human knowledge?

My Response: Thinking about all the technology we have today, honestly, technology has already surpassed human knowledge. A basic example is a calculator. We cannot multiply 1294903 times 20348 in our heads, but if we type it in the calculator, it will let us know the answer in less than a second. Another example is an i phone. Yes, it's a "smart" phone and with Syree...if we ask her where the nearest restaurants are, she will let us know in seconds...this shows that she is programmed and thus knows more than we do. Honestly, on one hand, I feel that it is ok if certain technologies surpass our knowledge so that if we need an answer for something quickly, we can get it from that piece of technology. (I mean, I wouldn't want to do long division during homework when I have that TI - 84 calculator right next to me). So, technology somewhat allows efficiency for us so that all the busy work can be done by that piece of technology (the thinking part), while we just act on it.
    However, the downside of that is that because we are letting the technologies do all the thinking work for us, we are losing some of our own abilities. Again, with the calculator example, I've met people who literally forgot how to do long division. That's really unfortunate. As much as technology is there to help us, it's hurting us just as much, or even more. That's why I somewhat don't like the new i phones coming out or all these advanced technology that can be used as a replacement for our thinking because then it's just making us somewhat more lazy. I mean, I know that these technologies that have been designed to be "smart" should be complementing us and helping us with whatever we need to do, but I feel like we should use these technologies without sacrificing using our own intellegence in the process.

-Syeda Fareeda Inamdar

I do feel that women are sometimes underestimated, as not being as smart as men. That is one of the principle reasons why many women do not pursue careers in technology also I feel that it is considered a hard field in which it is specifically designed for men. However, women are just as capable as men to go into a technological field and work alongside men. Now I feel like more women are taking the initiative and aspiring technological careers. These few women that are going into this field are breaking the barrier set between men and women and I admire them because it helps create a sense that women and men are just as smart. It also helps to break the stereotype that women are supposed to stay at home and tend the house, when in reality women can aspire to go to college and work alongside men in the industry. I feel like in a few years there will be as many women in the industry or technological fields as their are men. The reason being that more and more women are choosing to go to college and create a name for themselves rather than be a stay at home mother. I would love to see the day in which the ratio between women and men in the technological field is equal.
-Isabela   

After the robots and morsel presentation last week I had a realization this weekend. As we talked about issues that women face in today's society and our lack of recognition. It brought me to realize that there are not many women in the technological field or are recognized for the work that we do. For the past few weeks we've referred to robots as "he",  while those Robots who are "she's" are associated with house work. While these robots or technological creations are amazing, it would just be amazing to see more women be recognize and also be apart of making change in the world of technology. 
One another note, I did some research on what society is doing or has to offer for women in the tech world and I found a few websites such as: 
Women In Technology: Welcome!Women Who Tech
and MIT has a program focused on women in these fields. 
It's refreshing to know that there are people out in the world hoping to make a change the world of technology by helping women reach their goals in a profession that is populated with men. 

How do you feel about women & technology? 
Janice Le

Questions of race, and where a person belongs come up quite often in one's life. This is my closest experience, and view point of what it means to be a certain ethnicity, race, or to be a citizen of a certain ethnicity:

I am a permanent resident of the States, however I have yet to receive my citizenship here in the United States. The literal status of my citizenship is that I not yet a citizen. However, I enjoy the same music, the same show, and the same hobbies with many of my friends. My friends, who are citizens by birth, and I enjoy eating the same food. We visit many theme parks together, Not only that We debate about current political events that will possibly affect our life. We have many educated debates, and many silly conversation about nothing. My life is no different from theirs, the only difference is that I can't vote, and still missing some citizenship rights. But that doesn't change much, they can get a driver license and so can I. This is why I have always viewed myself as a citizen of the States. In the same sense, I feel like a person has the ability to choose to enjoy the culture from any ethnicity he or she wishes. Race simply shapes the way a person looks, but the big picture that is important is culture. No one is ever bounded by a certain race, we all have the ability to explore and love a certain culture if we wish to. As the result, what it means to be a certain race/ethnicity is simply means that a person has the opportunity to explore that culture, and many others if he or she wish to do so. Here in America, we're all melt together into a pot, and we all are American.

- Huu Pham

Congrats AALR Presentation Group! Your wonderful video reposted at the AALR FB!   Great work by: Michelle Li, Janice Le, Jessie Wu, Jordan Wong, Anthony Chang, Isabela Cardenas, and Anthony Meza!
here is the link: 
https://www.facebook.com/TheAALR

We have all heard from many people how Wikipedia is unreliable. The information it has comes from the collaboration of many people all over the world. There are some pages that can be edited, and those that are protected can be edited through requests. However, Wikipedia is a good place to start with all your research. Wikipedia accumulates the important information and put it all together in one place. I, for one, like Wikipedia!

Why do people consider Wikipedia to be unreliable!?
What do you think?

JLL