preparations for 21 August session

Read these

  1. Harper, C., & Gombrich, E. H. (2008). A little history of the world . New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press. pp. 80-82 .
  2. Rethinking the "third world": Seeing the world differently. The poor world has changed fundamentally. Others are barely coming to grips with the implications. The Economist, Jun 10th 2010
  3. If you want more to think about, take a look at the World Mapper site
  4. From Fernández-Armesto, F. (2003). Ideas that changed the world. New York, N.Y: Dorling Kindersley
    The Chinese Idea of Self-Strengthening

Think about these issues

  1. Consider especially the last line in the Gombrich chapter. Do we know enough of what people have done before to be able to make decisions about what they might do in the future?
  2. How much do we understand ourselves and the role of information in our societies, our cultures, our nations?
  3. Is our perspective of "the other" up to date, or do we still hold an outdated view of the world?
  4. Where do we get our information about "the other"? Can we trust our sources? Is the "Economist" article to be believed?

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