Pankaj Ghemawat: Actually, the world isn't flat

It may seem that we're living in a borderless world where ideas, goods and people flow freely from nation to nation. We're not even close, says Pankaj Ghemawat. With great data (and an eye-opening survey), he argues that there's a delta between perception and reality in a world that's maybe not so hyperconnected after all.
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[@muhammednihad4455]

so the whole point of this TedxTalk was about overestimation and how Thomas Friedman overestimated his theories about globalization eras and the world is flat theory, and not only him people from different countries and nations have the tendency to overestimate this sort of information, as Mr. Pankaj stated, he went through the pages of Thomas Friedman's book and he never found one single data or chart or a reference to his theories. so it all just comes down to overestimation.

[@yinyangnick]

Did anyone else get reminded of Jeff Goldblum by this dude?

[@lizijian1212]

Me too. Immediately.

[@Alex_1729]

The description for this video is stunning - I have no idea what you just wrote. But I'll watch it

[@myhappyskin3093]

I don’t really keep up with the scientific discourse in management studies between whether the world is flat or not. The answer is obvious for many years already. this is both. The world got very complex and there is no straight, simple and unambiguous answer to almost everything. Welcome in the VUCA world!

[@ironassbrown]

sounds precious. I must admit that title has a ring to it.

[@FinallyGotATubeName]

I think it would be cool if TED got two people with opposing views to do talks seeing this and a talk by Friedman would be very cool.

[@ductuslupus87]

Well said. I think the best way to allow them trade with other countries. I'm my opinion it helps people work their own way out of poverty.

[@srimansrini]

Vehemently attacking the popular perception about "Globalization" the orator gives a nice speech about the reality. But still he failed to give enough evidence through his 'researched data." Still it is one of the finest TED Talk. Persuasively argued, finely balanced and neatly presented talk about how are worldview is often short-sighted.

[@tutorialesdemedicina]

Exelente!!!!

[@Waranoa]

Yes! Absolutely!

[@aaronwimberleymbamsf5776]

Thanks for your expertise- this compliments World 3.0 very well

[@zyrohnmng]

Video games are a great way of globalization. That is one statistic that I would love to see. Percentage of international interaction based off of multiplayer online gaming. One statistic for consoles, another for computers.

[@FelixZandanel]

We live in a society

[@StephanieL180]

Humans have moved inexorably from individuals to families to tribes to folk/peoples to empires and nation states. Cosmopolitanism is inevitable. It's also a good thing, as these ever expanding units of social identity lead to greater overall world peace. So long as it's gradual enough that it doesn't overwhelm regions and change the identity of places so rapidly that people lose their sense of belonging, it's something to welcome.

[@MrTrenttness]

One of the best talks in a whilev:)

[@cityparkproperties7001]

Wow, it took him until the very end to state his assertion. He led with support then a little analysis and then in the last 10 seconds delivers his assertion and walks off the stage (mic drop!). You’re so coy!

[@breezyvonweezy723]

City Park Properties I feel like that’s every ted talk these days

[@kkmac7247]

@@breezyvonweezy723 you do know this was years ago, right

[@NBC1900]

What program is that zooms in and out in the presentation? Makes it fluent I like it. What's it name?

[@Platinum38C]

Hmm agreed but i am kind sort skeptic that same history will happen with every country and particularly in this time also. Things are different now as they were earlier

[@elevatewealth.africa]

That's a great talk... I am glad I found this video because I was very uneasy with that concept of the world is flat by Friedman. This video has given me confidence that I wasn't being biased.

[@iDontPledge]

I agree that ease of travel is a bit of a facade, while technically you can travel virtually anywhere on the planet, the cost of that is beyond the reach of your average human being, it's a shame that insight that can only be gained via observing different cultures... +1 For international public transport, cheap and viable for most, maybe a pipe dream, but a dream regardless.

[@muffins4tots]

Oh you

[@HigherPlanes]

his glasses are captivating

[@CPLains]

shouldnt he give us the stats of within to without phonecalls *adjusted for proximity* etcetc.

[@ironassbrown]

They are? What's the name of your book?

[@ASalv188]

Notice what he's doing at the beginning of the vid when he says "when making these kind of assessments" Is it just me or is what he's doing on the projector diffrent to what he's doing on stage?

[@XfStef]

5th factor is missing: the internet ... figure out how global the internet is and you'll have yourself a different view on the matter ;)

[@Kojak7snap]

He did say "As I *think* of them", not "As I have termed them".

[@MrUncleTings]

what's with all the periods?

[@sharmakdeep]

Quite true. That's the reason I'm always hesitant to donate to charities in other countries.

[@ShropshireFox]

sharmakdeep audit your national charities and find the same result.

[@cmd2tuts]

Mine's ...And into darkness. It's got a movie trilogy tie in, and a videogame.

[@benami4769]

so how globalization in 2021?

[@IC1101]

He didnt show data for internet communication...

[@ShadeWMD]

Everyone is selling a book...

[@Platinum38C]

It was an eye opener for me too. I jut realize out of my 200 fb friends only 5 are currently out of india and that too were here when i got to know them. So this gives me 0/10 on cosmopolitanism scale :D

[@Platinum38C]

That's what he is trying trying to explain to you. You are tend to be more connected to people who spatially nearer to you then technologically. Be it family or friends.

[@xXV1tal3Xx]

not everything that can be counted counts. and not everything that counts can be counted...

[@SuperAtheist]

the problem with foreign aid is it doesn't go to the people who need it. foreign aid is taking money from poor people in rich countries and giving it to rich people in poor countries.

[@a575981735977018]

Shiit, I really impressed myself by goood estimates of those numbers. Actually, if anything, I slightly underestimated the values. Wow, I must be some kind of genius. Now I just need help to figure out what to do with my genius, so suggestions are welcomed. :D

[@Tomwithnonumbers]

I estimated 0.01 % cross-border calls

[@Destro7000]

glass aren't obnoxious, they are functional wear!

[@itsjustameme]

Regardless of what this man is saying the cultural exchange between countries is staggering. Just look at how we in scandinavian newspapers can have frontpage headlines as well as editorials about the American election. And when he spaks about fourign vs domestic phone calls I'd like to see the graph for how many web searches result in us reaching a web page of the same nationality as our selves. My estimate is less than 60%.

[@orbsandtea]

You're occupying the top space where should be an insightful comment!

[@buldhana]

The idea of a Visa in itself is dumbfounded!

[@SuperAtheist]

I think you meant this comment for someone else?

[@Durakken]

While i do not argue with his data I would argue that his read of the data is flawed by the fact that it doesn't take into account where the perception of much higher comes from which explains also why it looks low in his data. That reason being we have "foreign" friends but we also tend to communicate with people that are local to use more readily. I'd point out that you'd likely get the same percentage between national/state and city numbers or even city and neighborhoods. ie it's deceiving

[@kll.c]

...books full of ideas, that one day that could help us live better. if the product is right, all kinds of adverting and marketing is welcome. just thinking out of your box there. you're welcome.

[@faithismespeaks6848]

Pretty simple people, just post a real picture of what we live on hanging in nothing, it has to show all of it, and the camera has to rotate around and show everything else as well. You know with all that stolen money NASA should be able to afford a camera that rotates.

[@bruhspeak9987]

so you're a flat earther, huh.

[@user-in9uw7up8s]

they won't because the earth is flat

[@ironassbrown]

proven, huh? Would you please make a citation to the study that proves that "aid" doesn't work. I would like to read it, I did not realize that there was proof.

[@Waranoa]

He should correct all his data for the distance the populations are located from a border. Interaction always tends to cluster in the neighborhood. It is much more logical for a person close to a border to interact with a foreigner than a person in the centre of a nation. The corrected difference in cross-border interactions between central and border communities is the one that is caused by borders, not the absolute difference, cause that's a function of distance, regardless of borders.

[@TheaDragonSpirit]

The bold letters are the ones that are probable the only letters he did this with. Work out how he did them letters. :-)

[@BeyondWrittenWords]

actually in small scale earth can be absolutely flat

[@MrID36]

No, they aren't. They're rectangular.

[@tetleydidley]

so why does he insist on 95% again?

[@conchamolusco]

Fact. I have no idea why I made him brazilian in my mind.

[@ironassbrown]

clap, clap, clap, well stated. What things exactly should he have chosen instead? international message in a bottle statistics? How many people shower with a shampoo that has a French sounding name? What are these high % enterprises you considered when developing your bold maverick analysis?

[@arngorf]

How about showing a graph showing the percentage of webpages loaded across borders. Now that would be some percentage.

[@jakecake1212]

Further more (and taken from a great comment below) 1. What is the sense of comparing export to gdp? Services like hiring a mechanic to repair your car flowing into the gdp, and I surely won't hire a mechanic living in another country to do this. Shouldn't services like that be subtracted from the gdp before computing the ratio? 2. Does he really expect people to expect that 95% of somebody's friends to live abroad (11:50)?

[@molewizard]

No, foreign aid given in the form of RAW MONEY does that. The aid given by almost all charities DOES NOT do that. It's in the form of consumable resources and education. These are things that are, well, pretty much impossible to steal. This is such a ridiculous misconception. Charities are not governments. They are not trying to destabilise a region by handing them money, arms and inciting violence.

[@sogghartha]

There's another good reason for why people think globalization is further than his data suggests. When I go to the supermarket, the vegetables are from Turkey, Israel, fruit from Brazil, Spain etcetera. Other products from all over the world too. And everywhere in the world you have McDonalds, Starbucks, Coca Cola, Levi's, Sony, etcetera. To the average consumer it seems obvious that globalization is everywhere. It seems like his data doesn't match our experience.

[@JasperTanimation]

when I saw that title, "you're not shitting me are you"

[@ManishGupta-bx8no]

Pankaj

[@fullfist]

i hope globalization slows down. . too much is too much, culture, people and uniqueness should stay preserved, not blended together like in the american society

[@YawnGod]

Allah is proud of those eyebrows. Takbir.

[@gprivat812_my_selection6]

A very biased approach to come to grips to this phenomenon. This is a old fashioned view of global connections. There are much more levels of interconnectedness then looked at in this presentation.

[@DaRealFiberOptix]

thats actually a fuckin trip, they LITERALLY with all their heart and mind.. thought that the earth was flat based on the knowledge that they walk on a "flat" surface.. what did everything look like from that pov

[@malakiblunt]

Bring Back Hans Rosling!!

[@molewizard]

That's such a damaging thing to say. How many people are now, as a result of reading that, less likely to donate? Foreign aid given in the form of money goes into the pockets of the governments of that country. It's aid in the form of practical help, which almost all charities are actually about, that truly helps people. And you're fucking that up by preaching that message.

[@ShropshireFox]

molewizard logic fail

[@allenamenbesetzt]

Sorry, but somehow I cannot take this guy seriously. 1. What is the sense of comparing export to gdp? Services like hiring a mechanic to repair your car flowing into the gdp, and I surely won't hire a mechanic living in another country to do this. Shouldn't services like that be substracted from the gdp before computing the ratio? 2. Does he really expect people to expect that 95% of somebody's friends to live abroad (11:50)?

[@rbrtchng]

if you read my comment, I didn't mean Facebook flattens trade or cultural ideas. I meant Facebook flattens the world in terms of communicating with your friends.

[@ResonantFrequency]

I don't think his conclusios are all that vlaid, off course 90% of goods you use arenm't made in another country, there's a huge energy cost associated with that. Phone usage as opposed to email, text and internet forum usage has plummeted over the last decade. What happens when you examine internet communication that has no significant energy or monetary cost ,comparing domestic communication to international? What happens when you compare sales of software that doesn;t need to be shipped?

[@LimmingKenny]

Only if you're disconnected from what he's talking about

[@orbsandtea]

I was actually surprised at how globalised we are by some of those statistics... 0o I'm antique! 15% of FB friends are international friends?!

[@Canadianrobin]

Also, proximity and energy cost dictates our interactions.Why would a small majority of phone calls or FACEBOOK messages be sent to people across the world? r we going to call our really good friends across the world to ask them how the weather is? Or are we going to call our wives to ask them if they want us to pick up milk and eggs. I can't believe he is really trying to get people to swallow this kind of 'globalization.' If you are reading this, please post ur definition of globalization

[@squidb8]

I found those glasses to be a distraction. Kind of made him look like he had matching lips stick.

[@BlueyMcPhluey]

I just think he's analyzing the wrong content. We don't use Facebook to make friends globally because that's not what it's designed for, but conversely that is almost the sole purpose of forums: to connect with people with similar interests or concerns regardless of where they live. And KZbin's entire community is based on getting our stories out globally!

[@TheaDragonSpirit]

Title? Really? You think? Actually it has flat bits all over it, so it's round and flat at the same time.

[@Masbelah_ben_Shimon]

"In my first book," "In my publication..." Such a turnoff...

[@ISBIAGDI]

some gangster glasses...

[@drackar]

My problem with this entire video is his "communications" area. Telephone calls? He says internet based calls might add a bit to that. Not relivent today. We email, we IM. We don't call as much. And about 1/3'd of my emails and IM's are to people in other countries. Then you analyze facebook,where you find people you know. Not the best example. For the stated reasons. Look at networks based on mutual interests, not existing friendships. Forums, online games, where mutual interest draws us.

[@JMartinsATV]

The presentation, by itself, was boring. But the content is VERY interesting and intriguing!

[@AbdelOO7]

Australia.

[@wushish]

My guesses didn't have more than an error of 3%...

[@andrewtenorio]

didnt have the cool accent i expected /:

[@lsynno]

Well an evil sadistic scientist somewhere decided to create a smart phone with a great screen to get people to use the net on it. But then give it a keyboard with a space bar so tiny that you hit the period button every time you press it. I was using said phone to comment here

[@NerdyLiberal]

HOLY FUCKING SHIT

[@johnynostrad999]

i wonder TED like Nat geo, nasa, cnn, bbc, hollywood same owner

[@ncguerreiro]

Finally someone to state the obvious! I just wish he would also present statistics for upper class globalization only. I believe that Zygmunt Bauman is right when he claims that the rich are more globalized. All this flat world talk is very plutocentric.

[@zavindur]

We do not want to globalize; so many smaller countries have a lot of issues caused by the people's mentality, if we allow them to flood working countries they will pull us down with them- they should fix their countries first instead of bringing their problems with them.

[@molewizard]

Have you ever seen how charities actually work, or are you preaching this from your armchair?

[@allenamenbesetzt]

Do I have a point or am I just being ignorant? I really don't know. While I think I do have a point, that guy surely won't be invited to give a talk blabbering nonsense. Also my area of forte is not globalization.

[@conchamolusco]

Apocalyptic as "HE" calls them? He's ripping off the Brazilian author Umberto Eco who not only coined the term, but the whole concept in the book Apocayptic and Integrated. Ted should background check a little.

[@ironassbrown]

Feelings...Hey your in his study, isn't that great your famous, maybe even internationally famous can't you feel that he's talking about you.

[@TestMeatDollSteak]

pancake gamma watt?

[@traviswarren7082]

He meant the earth is flat

[@GigaBoost]

Startling new discovery, at least for an Indian.

[@Canadianrobin]

The problem with his argument is he is thinking a flat world requires everyone to know each other. The world is flat because we have the technology, if we all had technology the stats would be higher. ur hypothesis is garbage lol

[@thegyger]

American society isn't as blended as you think. 2nd generation people almost always just take on American culture as their own. There's no real melting pot, that's also an old idea.

[@inquisitive871]

Two words: open borders

[@Stallnig]

what the world isn't flat?

[@5moka]

142 dislikes LOL wtf. Those people clearly cannot read statistics.