The World is Flat: Conclusion

“On such a flat earth, the most important attribute you can have is creative imagination – the ability to be the first on your block to figure out how all these enabling tools can be put together in new and exciting ways to create products, communities, opportunities, and profits. That has always been America’s strength, because America was, and for now still is, the world’s greatest dream machine.”
This quote, as stated by Thomas Friedman on page 571 in the second to last paragraph of his conclusion greatly stuck out to me. If America is the world’s greatest dream machine, how can we keep it that way? Most importantly, how can we as educators, educate out children to be the keepers of our dream machine?

Although yes, America still has some of the greatest creative minds in the world. But, after reading Friedman’s book, I have come to the conclusion that the world is flattening so fast that we may one day not be the world’s greatest dream machine. To keep up with this incredible pace, we as educators need to stay up to date on the latest forms of technology. We need to tap into our creative potential and use technology in the classroom. Without technology, our students will be lost in society.

Bill Gates states on pages 464 and 465 that there is a trap that about 3 million people are caught in. These people may never experience more health, more wealth and more education as those who are participating in the flattening forces of the earth. He is worried that it could be just half of the world that is flat and that it will stay that way for generations to come. If we as Americans have some of the most creative minds in the world, teachers need to nurture and feed those minds. Our students need to develop creative ways to get these 3 million out of the trap they’re in. How can teachers, and students join forces with the other parts of the world and catch them up on the flattening forces that we already participate in?

With the despair of 9/11 still lingering over our society, I think that the trust across cultures has been broken. But, trust is one of the most essential components in a flat society because you are working with people who you have never met and you most likely will potentially NEVER meet. This thought is a scary one to me. It made me think, how could I collaborate with someone who I have never seen face-to-face? Do I know or will I ever know if this person is really who they say they are? This is where trust comes in. As a society, we need to work to rebuild the trust that has been torn down. Friedman states that there are two ways to flatten the world:
1. Use our imaginations to bring everyone up to the same level and,
2. Use our imaginations to bring everyone down to the same level.
It is essential that we bring everyone up to the same level. Why would we want to bring individuals down with disappointment and anger. Bring people in society down to a different level will only backtrack the work that we are trying to do, which could potentially un-flatten the earth.

The flattening of the earth is not necessarily a bad thing, but we need to use our creativity for good and not evil.

And one last question I had:
With advances in technology, if you are not up to date, can you ever be caught up or will you always be lingering behind the rest of society?