CHAPTER 1

THE BIG STORIES

Technology is a gift of God. After the gift of life it is perhaps the greatest of Gods gifts. It is the mother of civilizations, of arts and of sciences. Freeman yson

WHAT HAVE BEEN THE most important developments in human history? As anyone investigating this question soon learns, its difficult to answer. For one thing, when does human history even begin? Anatomically and behaviorally modern Homo sapiens, equipped with language, fanned out from their African homeland some sixty thousand years ago. !y "#,$$$ !%&" they had wiped out the 'eanderthals and other hominids, and thereafter faced no competition from other big(brained, upright( wal)ing species. *e might consider "#,$$$ !%& a reasonable time to start trac)ing the big stories of human)ind, were it not for the development( retarding ice age earth was experiencing at the time. + ,n his boo) Why the West RulesFor Now, anthropologist ,an -orris starts trac)ing human societal progress in .,$$$ !%&, when

the world clearly started getting warmer. Another reason its a hard question to answer is that its not clear what criteria we should use/ what constitutes a truly important development? -ost of us share a sense that it would be an event or advance that significantly changes the course of things0one that bends the curve of human history. -any have argued that the domestication of animals did 1ust this, and is one of our earliest important achievements. 2he dog might well have been domesticated before .,$$$ !%&, but the horse was not3 eight thousand more years would pass before we started breeding them and )eeping them in corrals. 2he ox, too, had been tamed by that time 4ca. 5,$$$ !%&6 and hitched to a plow. 7omestication of wor) animals hastened the transition from foraging to farming, an important development already underway by 8,$$$ !%&.. Agriculture ensures plentiful and reliable food sources, which in turn enable larger human settlements and, eventually, cities. %ities in turn ma)e tempting targets for plunder and conquest. A list of important human developments should therefore include great wars and the empires they yielded. 2he -ongol, 9oman, Arab, and :ttoman empires0to name 1ust four0were transformative3 they affected )ingdoms, commerce, and customs over immense areas. :f course, some important developments have nothing to do with animals, plants, or fighting men3 some are simply ideas. ;hilosopher <arl =aspers notes that !uddha 4#5+>.8+ !%&6, %onfucius 4## >.?@ !%&6, and Aocrates 4.5@>+@@ !%&6 all lived quite close to one another in time 4but not in place6. ,n his analysis these men are the central thin)ers of an Axial Age spanning 8$$>"$$ !%&. =aspers calls this age Ba deep breath bringing the most lucid consciousnessC and holds that its

philosophers brought transformative schools of thought to three ma1or civiliDations/ ,ndian, %hinese, and &uropean.# 2he !uddha also founded one of the worlds ma1or religions, and common sense demands that any list of ma1or human developments include the establishment of other ma1or faiths li)e Einduism, =udaism, %hristianity, and ,slam. &ach has influenced the lives and ideals of hundreds of millions of people.5 -any of these religions ideas and revelations were spread by the written word, itself a fundamental innovation in human history. 7ebate rages about precisely when, where, and how writing was invented, but a safe estimate puts it in -esopotamia around +,"$$ !%&. *ritten symbols to facilitate counting also existed then, but they did not include the concept of Dero, as basic as that seems to us now. 2he modern numbering system, which we call Arabic, arrived around 8+$ %&.? 2he list of important developments goes on and on. 2he Athenians began to practice democracy around #$$ !%&. 2he !lac) 7eath reduced &uropes population by at least +$ percent during the latter half of the +$$s. %olumbus sailed the ocean blue in .@", beginning interactions between the 'ew *orld and the :ld that would transform both. The History of Humanity in One Graph Eow can we ever get clarity about which of these developments is the most important? All of the candidates listed above have passionate advocates0people who argue forcefully and persuasively for one developments sovereignty over all the others. And in Why the West RulesFor Now -orris confronts a more fundamental debate/ whether any attempt to ran) or compare human events and developments is meaningful or

legitimate. -any anthropologists and other social scientists say it is not. -orris disagrees, and his boo) boldly attempts to quantify human development. As he writes, Breducing the ocean of facts to simple numerical scores has drawbac)s but it also has the one great merit of forcing everyone to confront the same evidence0with surprising results.C8 ,n other words, if we want to )now which developments bent the curve of human history, it ma)es sense to try to draw that curve. -orris has done thoughtful and careful wor) to quantify what he terms social development 4Ba groups ability to master its physical and intellectual environment to get things doneC6 over time. As -orris suggests, the results are surprising. ,n fact, theyre astonishing. 2hey show that none of the developments discussed so far has mattered very much, at least in comparison to something else0something that bent the curve of human history li)e nothing before or since. Eeres the graph, with total worldwide human population graphed over time along with social development3 as you can see, the two lines are nearly identical/
!"orris defines h#man social development as consisting of fo#r attri$#tes% energy capt#re &per'person calories o$tained from the environment for food, home and commerce, ind#stry and agric#lt#re, and t r a n s p o r t a t i o n ( , o r g a n i z a t i o n & t h e s i z e o f t h e l a r g e s t c i t y( , ) a r ' m a * i n g capacity &n#m$er of troops, po)er and speed of )eapons, logistical capa$ilities, and other similar factors(, and information technology &the sophistication of availa$le tools for sharing and processing information, and the e+tent of their #se(. ,ach of these is converted into a n#m$er that varies over time from zero to -./. 0verall social development is simply the s#m of these fo#r n#m$ers. 1eca#se he )as interested in comparisons $et)een the 2est &,#rope, "esopota mia, and 3orth America at vario#s times, depending on )hich )as most advanced( and the ,ast &4hina and 5apan(, he calc#lated social development separately for each area from !6,/// 14, to -/// 4,. In -///, the ,ast )as higher only in o r g a n i z a t i o n & s i n c e T o * yo ) a s t h e ) o r l d s l a r g e s t c i t y( a n d h a d a s o c i a l development score of .76.89. T he 2ests score in -/// )as :/7.9;. 2e average the t)o scores.

For many thousands of years, humanity was a very gradual upward tra1ectory. ;rogress was achingly slow, almost invisible. Animals and farms, wars and empires, philosophies and religions all failed to exert much influence. !ut 1ust over two hundred years ago, something sudden and profound arrived and bent the curve of human history0of population and social development0almost ninety degrees. Engines of Progress !y now youve probably guessed what it was. 2his is a boo) about the impact of technology, after all, so its a safe bet that were opening it this way in order to demonstrate how important technology has been. And the sudden change in the graph in the late eighteenth century corresponds to a development weve heard a lot about/ the ,ndustrial 9evolution, which was the sum of several nearly simultaneous developments in mechanical engineering, chemistry, metallurgy, and other disciplines. Ao youve most li)ely figured out that these technological developments underlie the sudden, sharp, and sustained 1ump in human progress. ,f so, your guess is exactly right. And we can be even more precise about which technology was most important. ,t was the steam engine or, to be more precise, one developed and improved by =ames *att and his colleagues in the second half of the eighteenth century. ;rior to *att, steam engines were highly inefficient, harnessing only about one percent of the energy released by burning coal. *atts brilliant tin)ering between ?5# and ??5 increased this more than threefold.@ As -orris writes, this made all the difference/ B&ven though Fthe steamG revolution too) several decades to unfold . . . it was nonetheless the biggest and

fastest transformation in the entire history of the world.C $ 2he ,ndustrial 9evolution, of course, is not only the story of steam power, but steam started it all. -ore than anything else, it allowed us to overcome the limitations of muscle power, human and animal, and generate massive amounts of useful energy at will. 2his led to factories and mass production, to railways and mass transportation. ,t led, in other words, to modern life. 2he ,ndustrial 9evolution ushered in humanitys first machine age 0the first time our progress was driven primarily by technological innovation0and it was the most profound time of transformation our world has ever seen." 2he ability to generate massive amounts of mechanical power was so important that, in -orriss words, it Bmade moc)ery of all the drama of the worlds earlier history.C 'ow comes the second machine age. %omputers and other digital advances are doing for mental power0the ability to use our brains to understand and shape our environments0what the steam engine and its descendants did for muscle power. 2heyre allowing us to blow past previous limitations and ta)ing us into new territory. Eow exactly this transition will play out remains un)nown, but whether or not the new machine age bends the curve as dramatically as *atts steam engine, it is a very big deal indeed. 2his boo) explains how and why. For now, a very short and simple answer/ mental power is at least as important for progress and development0for mastering our physical and intellectual environment to get things done0 as physical power. Ao a vast and unprecedented boost to mental
-2e refer to the Ind#strial <evol#tion as the first machine age. =o)e ver, the machine age is also a la$el #sed $y some economic historians to refer to a period of rapid technological progress spanning the late nineteenth and early t)entieth cent#ries. This same period is called $y others the >econd Ind#strial <evol#tion, )hich is ho) )ell refer to it in later chapters.

power should be a great boost to humanity, 1ust as the ealier boost to physical power so clearly was. Playing Catch !p *e wrote this boo) because we got confused. For years we have studied the impact of digital technologies li)e computers, software, and communications networ)s, and we thought we had a decent understanding of their capabilities and limitations. !ut over the past few years, they started surprising us. %omputers started diagnosing diseases, listening and spea)ing to us, and writing high(quality prose, while robots started scurrying around warehouses and driving cars with minimal or no guidance. 7igital technologies had been laughably bad at a lot of these things for a long time0then they suddenly got very good. Eow did this happen? And what were the implications of this progress, which was astonishing and yet came to be considered a matter of course? *e decided to team up and see if we could answer these questions. *e did the normal things business academics do/ read lots of papers and boo)s, loo)ed at many different )inds of data, and batted around ideas and hypotheses with each other. 2his was necessary and valuable, but the real learning, and the real fun, started when we went out into the world. *e spo)e with inventors, investors, entrepreneurs, engineers, scientists, and many others who ma)e technology and put it to wor). 2han)s to their openness and generosity, we had some futuristic experiences in todays incredible environment of digital innovation. *eve ridden in a driverless car, watched a computer beat teams of Earvard and -,2 students in a game of eopardy!, trained an industrial robot by grabbing its wrist and guiding it through a series of steps, handled a beautiful metal

bowl that was made in a +7 printer, and had countless other mind(melting encounters with technology. "here "e Are 2his wor) led us to three broad conclusions. 2he first is that were living in a time of astonishing progress with digital technologies0those that have computer hardware, software, and networ)s at their core. 2hese technologies are not brand(new3 businesses have been buying computers for more than half a century, and Time magaDine declared the personal computer its B-achine of the HearC in @8". !ut 1ust as it too) generations to improve the steam engine to the point that it could power the ,ndustrial 9evolution, its also ta)en time to refine our digital engines. *ell show why and how the full force of these technologies has recently been achieved and give examples of its power. BFull,C though, doesnt mean Bmature.C %omputers are going to continue to improve and to do new and unprecedented things. !y Bfull force,C we mean simply that the )ey building bloc)s are already in place for digital technologies to be as important and transformational to society and the economy as the steam engine. ,n short, were at an inflection point0a point where the curve starts to bend a lot0because of computers. *e are entering a second machine age. :ur second conclusion is that the transformations brought about by digital technology will be profoundly beneficial ones. *ere heading into an era that wont 1ust be different3 it will be better, because well be able to increase both the variety and the volume of our consumption. *hen we phrase it that way0in the dry vocabulary of economics0it almost sounds unappealing. *ho wants to consume more and more all the

time? !ut we dont 1ust consume calories and gasoline. *e also consume information from boo)s and friends, entertainment from superstars and amateurs, expertise from teachers and doctors, and countless other things that are not made of atoms. 2echnology can bring us more choice and even freedom. *hen these things are digitiDed0when theyre converted into bits that can be stored on a computer and sent over a networ)0they acquire some weird and wonderful properties. 2heyre sub1ect to different economics, where abundance is the norm rather than scarcity. As well show, digital goods are not li)e physical ones, and these differences matter. :f course, physical goods are still essential, and most of us would li)e them to have greater volume, variety, and quality. *hether or not we want to eat more, wed li)e to eat better or different meals. *hether or not we want to burn more fossil fuels, wed li)e to visit more places with less hassle. %omputers are helping accomplish these goals, and many others. 7igitiDation is improving the physical world, and these improvements are only going to become more important. Among economic historians theres wide agreement that, as -artin *eitDman puts it, Bthe long(term growth of an advanced economy is dominated by the behavior of technical progress.C " As well show, technical progress is improving exponentially. :ur third conclusion is less optimistic/ digitiDation is going to bring with it some thorny challenges. 2his in itself should not be too surprising or alarming3 even the most beneficial developments have unpleasant consequences that must be managed. 2he ,ndustrial 9evolution was accompanied by soot( filled Iondon s)ies and horrific exploitation of child labor. *hat will be their modern equivalents? 9apid and accelerating digitiDation is li)ely to bring economic rather than environmental disruption, stemming from the fact that as

computers get more powerful, companies have less need for some )inds of wor)ers. 2echnological progress is going to leave behind some people, perhaps even a lot of people, as it races ahead. As well demonstrate, theres never been a better time to be a wor)er with special s)ills or the right education, because these people can use technology to create and capture value. Eowever, theres never been a worse time to be a wor)er with only ordinary s)ills and abilities to offer, because computers, robots, and other digital technologies are acquiring these s)ills and abilities at an extraordinary rate. :ver time, the people of &ngland and other countries concluded that some aspects of the ,ndustrial 9evolution were unacceptable and too) steps to end them 4democratic government and technological progress both helped with this6. %hild labor no longer exists in the J<, and Iondon air contains less smo)e and sulfur dioxide now than at any time since at least the late #$$s. + 2he challenges of the digital revolution can also be met, but first we have to be clear on what they are. ,ts important to discuss the li)ely negative consequences of the second machine age and start a dialogue about how to mitigate them0we are confident that theyre not insurmountable. !ut they wont fix themselves, either. *ell offer our thoughts on this important topic in the chapters to come. Ao this is a boo) about the second machine age unfolding right now0an inflection point in the history of our economies and societies because of digitiDation. ,ts an inflection point in the right direction0bounty instead of scarcity, freedom instead of constraint0but one that will bring with it some difficult challenges and choices. 2his boo) is divided into three sections. 2he first, composed of chapters through 5, describes the fundamental characteristics of the second machine age. 2hese chapters give

many examples of recent technological progress that seem li)e the stuff of science fiction, explain why theyre happening now 4after all, weve had computers for decades6, and reveal why we should be confident that the scale and pace of innovation in computers, robots, and other digital gear is only going to accelerate in the future. 2he second part, consisting of chapters ? through , explores bounty and spread, the two economic consequences of this progress. !ounty is the increase in volume, variety, and quality and the decrease in cost of the many offerings brought on by modern technological progress. ,ts the best economic news in the world today. Apread, however, is not so great3 its ever(bigger differences among people in economic success0in wealth, income, mobility, and other important measures. Apread has been increasing in recent years. 2his is a troubling development for many reasons, and one that will accelerate in the second machine age unless we intervene. 2he final section0chapters " through #0discusses what interventions will be appropriate and effective for this age. :ur economic goals should be to maximiDe the bounty while mitigating the negative effects of the spread. *ell offer our ideas about how to best accomplish these aims, both in the short term and in the more distant future, when progress really has brought us into a world so technologically advanced that it seems to be the stuff of science fiction. As we stress in our concluding chapter, the choices we ma)e from now on will determine what )ind of world that is.