I've started reading Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat a few weeks ago and it's been a bane of sleep for me. I normally read before I hit the sack and the book just keeps on provoking thoughts within me. That should explain why I'm writing this post at 1:42am on a working weekday....
The book's pretty good in conveying it's theme across. It's not as captivating as Malcolm Gladwell's books (The Tipping Point and Blink) in the sense that's it not a page turner. Having said that, it's still a good read with loads of interesting facts though it's presented in a more dry/scientific manner. As a fast summary, the book talks about globalisation (i.e. the flattening of the world) due to the convergence of a few factors, one of which is the widespread connectivity due to the Internet. It introduces how it came about, the factors that drove it and I'm now a third into the book where it focuses on how Americans are in danger of being left behind due to globalisation.
This post is not a book review but rather how it has affected me. So the preceding section is not wholly thorough/accurate and does a poor job conveying it's message :)
The deliberate way in which it's written is actually producing an interesting effect. I normally read books (which was mostly easily consumed fiction from mostly the fantasy genre) at a faster pace as I can't wait to find out how the story progresses. This time round, I read less in terms of volume/pages at a given time and but it seems to a more reflective process.
I find that the ideas resonate in my mind and I internalise the concepts that are just presented. This is not something that I'm actively doing and it need not be relevant to the main concept of a given chapter. For instance, I just read about America's scientific & engineering education crisis and how other nations (viz. India & China) might overtake USA in the near future in this area but I end up thinking about how we Asians (alright, specifically me) might need to dedicate more time to learning the various intricacies of my job in order to innovate more. It also provoke thoughts about where I would like to work if I have a chance to relocate overseas. I'm admittedly a lazy bugger and it seems that Western Europe has a nice working culture that fits me perfectly. Grin. They're more conscious about a balanced life but this in a way is affecting their competitive edge long term.
Also thought about whether I want to raise my children (if/when I ever have any :P) in the states if ever I do get a chance to work there permanently. True, the quality of life there is fantastic compared to currently exists back home but it will be a challenge to ensure they have a bright future as education will have to be stressed on. I wouldn't want my kids to be part of the MTV generation with all it's implications (short attention span, doesn't read for pleasure, bad math/science proficiency, etc). Sounds like I'm discussing the common ills of most societies and I'm sure the same problem exists and will get worse in Malaysia as well if things do not change.
Funny how the mind works. You read something and it goes off on tangents. I'm wide awake and it's gonna be a long day for me tomorrow.....
The book's pretty good in conveying it's theme across. It's not as captivating as Malcolm Gladwell's books (The Tipping Point and Blink) in the sense that's it not a page turner. Having said that, it's still a good read with loads of interesting facts though it's presented in a more dry/scientific manner. As a fast summary, the book talks about globalisation (i.e. the flattening of the world) due to the convergence of a few factors, one of which is the widespread connectivity due to the Internet. It introduces how it came about, the factors that drove it and I'm now a third into the book where it focuses on how Americans are in danger of being left behind due to globalisation.
This post is not a book review but rather how it has affected me. So the preceding section is not wholly thorough/accurate and does a poor job conveying it's message :)
The deliberate way in which it's written is actually producing an interesting effect. I normally read books (which was mostly easily consumed fiction from mostly the fantasy genre) at a faster pace as I can't wait to find out how the story progresses. This time round, I read less in terms of volume/pages at a given time and but it seems to a more reflective process.
I find that the ideas resonate in my mind and I internalise the concepts that are just presented. This is not something that I'm actively doing and it need not be relevant to the main concept of a given chapter. For instance, I just read about America's scientific & engineering education crisis and how other nations (viz. India & China) might overtake USA in the near future in this area but I end up thinking about how we Asians (alright, specifically me) might need to dedicate more time to learning the various intricacies of my job in order to innovate more. It also provoke thoughts about where I would like to work if I have a chance to relocate overseas. I'm admittedly a lazy bugger and it seems that Western Europe has a nice working culture that fits me perfectly. Grin. They're more conscious about a balanced life but this in a way is affecting their competitive edge long term.
Also thought about whether I want to raise my children (if/when I ever have any :P) in the states if ever I do get a chance to work there permanently. True, the quality of life there is fantastic compared to currently exists back home but it will be a challenge to ensure they have a bright future as education will have to be stressed on. I wouldn't want my kids to be part of the MTV generation with all it's implications (short attention span, doesn't read for pleasure, bad math/science proficiency, etc). Sounds like I'm discussing the common ills of most societies and I'm sure the same problem exists and will get worse in Malaysia as well if things do not change.
Funny how the mind works. You read something and it goes off on tangents. I'm wide awake and it's gonna be a long day for me tomorrow.....
1 comment:
I read the first chapter, took 2 miserable weeks and returned it back to the library.
the first few parts were interesting then it just got dry.
the book is good for those chinaman managers. Most of the thing that was mentioned in the book is already familar to me. reading the book is like playing a bad record.
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