Session 3

This week we talked about how the manufacturing process of good should not be a linear model, but a cyclical one. After watching the video "Story of Stuff", it was obvious to everyone that there are many inefficiencies and wastage created by the manufacturing processes in place right now. The main processes involved in manufacturing are extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal, but the presenter in the video reveals that there are many more effects on the people and environment involved in the process that are not taken into account. There were many statistics being used in the video, and many of them were shocking. 

In the part where the process of extraction was discussed, there was a claim made that if everyone consumed at the US rates, the resources of 5 Earths would be required to sustain us. However, according to economic principles, the limited resources of the Earth would actually cause the prices of goods to go up, hence only the wealthy will be able to consume so much. This increase in price would cause a fall in the demand for the goods, hence the consumption levels of the world would fall. It is therefore unlikely at this point in time that we will ever reach a point where the consumption of the world would be so high. If people around the world become equally affluent,  I think that it might happen in the future, since the spending power of people will be almost equal. However, production technology may be improved by then and the world would move towards sustainable development. 

The second half of the lesson was spent on how innovation depended on having smart people, smart ideas, smart money and smart partnerships. These four factors work in tandem for innovation to occur, but another important factor to consider is the environment. If the generation of revolutionary ideas from great people who have the capital to invest in the idea takes place in an environment on which the creativity of people is suppressed, the ideas that people have may still only remain a dream. However, in places like Singapore, where entrepreneurship is encouraged, people are given the chance to further explore their ideas, and people are allowed room for error. As such, there are new markets created for products and services that were just created.

Rating: 7.5

I thought that some of the presentations this week were really interesting.