STS ONLINE EXERCISE: The Needham Question and Science s Revelations

Listen, reflect and leave your comment/opinion on the Neeeham question nBe concise and clear — not more than five (5) sentences. Leave a comment on this post. Required: Comment per group and voluntary individual comments. Do not forget to indiciate your group number and section and for individual comment your name student number and section.

THE NEEDHAM QUESTION
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0038x9m

SCIENCE S REVELATIONS
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p005454c

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106 Responses to STS ONLINE EXERCISE: The Needham Question and Science s Revelations

  1. Iris Dizon says:

    The Needham Question is an interesting take on the integration of science in culture and politics and vice versa. It seeks to understand why China, despite its initial quick pace in technological discoveries and advancements, has been surpassed by Western countries through the years. A few answers given are the cultural restrictions of China, as well as the political pressure in the West. The Chinese prioritized preservation of their culture over advancements in technology. And politically, the western countries were under much pressure from the competition between states to exceed each other, thus the hunger for faster technological advancements.

    Dizon, Iris Nicole Astrid D.V.
    2015-03023
    STS THX

  2. Group 2 WFX says:

    The Needham Question explains the differences in the social, political, and cultural conditions of Europe and China, and how those conditions drove the people towards different approaches in technological advancement. For example, Europe wanted to produce more but they lacked human resources, so they solved that through industrialization. China, on the other hand, was the opposite and had a surplus of human workers. There are more factors to the question at hand, but we think that it was unfair to put China to Western standards of development. in the end, both were merely trying to solve their own problems at hand.

    Group 2
    STS WFX

  3. Gracely Tolosa says:

    STS THX Group 14 answers…

    The Needham Question is about understanding why China has stopped or slowed their development in terms of science and technology, while Europe very rapidly progressed. There are many factors considered, including the way Europe had to deal with international competition while China didn’t. But the interesting point here is although China’s economic development, culture, and tradition are all considered in the Needham question, China’s “progress,” or lack thereof, is still viewed from a European perspective. It’s still biased since there is no definite standard for development in technology. Moreover, the Needham Question is slowly becoming outdated with the resurgence of China as a major global power.

  4. Allysa M. says:

    The Needham Question tackles about why technological advances developed in the West despite the fact that it all started in China. However, I don’t think this question is still relevant in this era. Today, China has become of the superpowers in the world. The country was able to prove that even though the western countries were able to apply science and technology first, they could still catch up. All countries have their different ways of advancing therefore I don;t think it is reasonable to compare China with the Western part of the globe.

    Malubag, Allysa Margarette
    2015-13657
    STS WFX
    Group 17

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