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| Why is the world moving and changing so fast? |
Why is the world moving and changing so fast? In a fast-paced world, we need time to pause and think about the future.
This time I will discuss the book Thank You for Being Late by Thomas L. Friedman. This book describes the rapidly changing world we live in today.
We must have felt it, why does the world feel so fast changing? The world we knew as a child, in the coming decades, has changed significantly.
What happened? Thomas explained, to understand what is happening in the 21st century, we must understand the three great forces, namely technology, globalization, and climate change.
These three things have accelerated the change in the world we used to know to be what it is today. And maybe in the next few years, the world will change again.
For that, we need to slow down to adapt to every change that is happening in the world and keep us relevant.
Why is the world moving and changing so fast? You should know
I summed it up into three highlights from the book Thank You for Being Late by Thomas L. Friedman:
First, the development of 21st century technology
Technology is the biggest driver behind the changes we are experiencing today. Thomas explained that this acceleration started in 2007, the year when iPhone, Android, cloud computing technology, and so on were first launched.
He argues that 2007 was a turning point in human history. Not only the example mentioned earlier, but at that time, cellular data traffic from one of the telecommunications in the United States, namely AT&T, increased by 100,000 percent.
There is an interesting theory that explains this phenomenon, namely Moore's law. So this law stems from an observation by Intel founder Gordon Moore in 1965 which stated that the capability of a microchip would double every two years. Although the power has increased drastically, but in terms of costs will be reduced.
In that year, rapid technological developments also coincided with global trade, the development of social networks, and huge information traffic.
On the other hand, these developments also have an impact on nature in the form of climate change and an increasing population explosion. This condition makes humans have to continue to adapt to a fast-paced environment.
We can no longer expect stability in the long term, but what we have to do now is like riding a bicycle, keep moving so as not to fall.
Thomas experienced rapid technological changes in his era of life. In 1978, he had to queue for a pay phone in England to notify his editor who was in the United States. Now, he can simply send an email from the UK, or even from the interior of Africa, and can be published directly on the New York Times website.
In fact, because of the rapid development of technology, Thomas had to interview technology experts at least twice to conduct research in writing this book.
Technological developments are no longer linear but exponential, making us have to adapt. For example, during the previous decades, milking cows was a manual job that required the expertise of a farmer. However, now, computers are used to monitor the flow of milk and its production chain.
So don't be surprised, in the next few years, we will see farmers no longer look shabby and dirty because they spend a lot of time in the fields, but will spend a lot of time as data analysts.
Third, Climate change in the 21st century
Maybe we often hear this. The world is getting warmer, the seas are getting higher, and the CO2 is also getting higher. On the other hand, the increasing population makes resources increasingly depleted.
Of course, this is quite scary. In addition, the impact of climate change is population migration. For information, 2/3 of all migration in the United States comes from many places, and is often associated with climate change.
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| Why is the world moving and changing so fast? |
However, technology and globalization can connect everyone and can collaborate to find common solutions to the problem of climate change.
Thomas gave an example of how this ability to change can change his hometown, namely St. Louis Park, Minnesota. It used to be that Thomas' hometown was a homogeneous place but now it has become a multicultural city.
Not only that, the visionary leader has lifted the economy of the people in the area thanks to good job opportunities and the education system.
This is the beauty of an interconnected world, where we must not be selfish, but we are together as part of a world community.
Closing
That's my post about Why is the world moving and changing so fast? There is something interesting about the title of Thomas' book, namely the title Thank you for being late which is a response to everyone who is late when he has an appointment with him.
Thomas used the waiting time to pause and reflect on the moments in his life. This book is the result of his musings about a world that moves super fast.
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| Why is the world moving and changing so fast? |
When you press the pause button on the machine, the machine will stop immediately. However, when you press the pause button on humans, they will start reflecting and contemplating the future.
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