New York Times columnist and best-selling author Thomas Friedman says our lives are being transformed in so many realms at once—it’s dizzying.
“We’re in the middle of 3 accelerations; the market, mother nature, and Moore’s law. Moore’s law says the power of microchips will double every 24 months, mother nature is climate change, biodiversity loss and population, and the market is digital globalization.”
In this podcast, Friedman talks about his new book, Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations.
Friedman describes how these forces feed off each other and are transforming the workplace, geopolitics, and community. He also suggests healthy communities can help people better adapt to change, and uses his own Minnesota hometown as an example.
“The more people are anchored in communities where they feel connected, protected and respected, the more people are ready to reach out and experiment. The less they feel connected, protected and respected, the more they’ll want to build walls to protect themselves from change.”
Friedman says economists too are struggling to keep up the pace at which things are changing.
“I think any economist trying to do research on current events, just trying to amass the data, understand the data, and spit out some conclusions before the data moves, is going to be very, very challenged.”
Listen to the full interview:
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