"Our job is not to make up anybody’s mind, but to open minds, and to make the agony of decision-making so intense you can escape only by thinking."
- Fred W. Friendly (1915-1998)

"Ye shall know the truth, and the truth will make you mad."
- Aldous Huxley

"If you have ever injected truth into politics, then you have no politics."
- Will Rogers

Sunday, December 9, 2012

The World is....Hilly?

I just saw another of the TED talks - this one hits a general theme that is a favorite of mine - the wildly inaccurate perception of "everybody knows" topics, as well as the specific debate about a flat world, globalization, etc.

One of my personal favorite myths is the "everyone is on the Internet" mantra.  When I ask "then why does only 34% of the world's population have access to the Internet?"  I get a blank stare ... and then they go back to 'liking' everything in sight on Facebook.  

Pankaj Ghemawat's video is informative and worth watching (I think there is an implicit case in here for requiring a history/economics/facts test for all voters as well !).




The implicit debate between Tom Friedman's view and this video is not as stark as it may seem.
I found Tom Friedman's books on the subject to be compelling although it is difficult to quantify into hard data the exact degree of 'flatness' such as he describes.   Much of his evidence is 'macro' in scope and based on the perception of the Western world as to markets and economic forces which have certainly shifted to some degree to a 'flatter' view.  

Regardless, I find listening to this type of discussion one of the real rewards of being a thinker rather than a blind follower of trends.....

 

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