Neil Ferguson: 6 Killer Apps of Prosperity

Ferguson poses the question as to how the westerners became dominant in the 'global scene', and answers it effectively. He brings up examples of historical figures, who also questioned this and attempted to answer this question such as Muteferrika, who said that is "because they have laws and rules invented by reason". This statement has a great weight to it, as it notes how European institutions (governments etc.) "embraced" the ideas of the people(which were common sense) and laws were made as such. Ferguson also makes it very clear, it was not geography or national character it was ideas and institutions that led to the west's dominance. A great modern example that Ferguson mentioned was the division of a country that has very similar culture but given different governments and that is why became totally different. He refers to the separation of North Korea(which had communism) and South Korea(which was a democratic/republic). North Korea, stagnated technologically and South Korea as a contrast is a much more advanced country, or more "dominant". Ferguson then says how the west diverged from the East, through his "6 killer apps". The first was competition. In Europe there was competition, between all corporations and various institutions versus China which was very monolithic. Then he mentions the scientific revolution; in Europe there was a grand revolution which was not seen anywhere else in the world. Then he mentions property rights; in North America where people actually owned land versus a country like Latin America where a select few owned land. Then he mentions modern medicine(the obvious one!); in Europe(west) because of this life expectancy nearly doubles versus the sorcery( & mercury 'dranks') in China.Then he mentions the consumer society, where people must buy stuff(West produced and sold a bunch of goods). Finally, he mentions the importance of work ethic; where people will work if there are institutions that provide incentive for work(such as the land grants) in the West. To end his talk, he mentions this idea of re-convergence where the East and West will be on the same level in terms of "world dominance". To answer one of his questions, is the west deleting their apps? Yes, as American are simply losing their work ethic(deleted app 6). Whereas, China for example is ahead in terms of math scores and patents(more innovation/technological inventions). To answer another one of his questions, can Africa get the sequence right? Before I answer this, I must say that my answer is based of a Fareed Zakaria segment. Africa is a unique country as they necessarily do not adhere to the usual sequence of events (they do not necessarily need to gain security then gain democracy). Africa has taken use of some of the apps, as it is one of the most promising places (some parts of the country) economically. Africa is developing a thriving, consumer society and they have a great work ethic which may led to Africa being the next superpower(in terms of wealth). Overall, this was a very interesting Ted talk, and points out the obvious which is that the west is not as dominant as it once was. It is intriguing to see how many other countries are catching up to the west, and it will be very interesting to see the affects of this on the "global scene" in the coming years.