A Selfish Argument for Making the World a Better Place – Egoistic Altruism

Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell

18 Mar 201807:15

Summary

TLDRThe video discusses the transformative shift from a zero-sum world, where economic gains came at others' expense, to a positive-sum world driven by the Industrial Revolution. It highlights how innovation and economic growth have created a larger, continuously expanding 'pie,' benefiting more people simultaneously. The video emphasizes that in today's interconnected world, it's in everyone's self-interest to improve global prosperity, as it drives innovation, increases demand, and enhances overall quality of life. Investing in global well-being, such as curing diseases or advancing technology, ultimately benefits everyone.

Takeaways

🌾 Pre-Industrial Revolution, the global economy was primarily agrarian and limited by land size, leading to a zero-sum world where one's gain was another's loss.
🛠️ The Industrial Revolution marked a pivotal shift, introducing machinery and innovations that exponentially increased agricultural and industrial productivity.
📈 Economic growth transformed societies from a zero-sum to a positive-sum game, enabling a growing economic pie where more people could prosper simultaneously.
🚀 Innovation is the driving force behind economic progress, offering better solutions to existing problems and addressing new challenges as they arise.
🌐 The positive-sum world has been a recent phenomenon, with implications that are counterintuitive, suggesting that global prosperity benefits everyone.
💡 In a positive-sum economy, personal selfish interests align with the well-being of others, as a more prosperous world can lead to greater individual success.
🔑 Supply and demand are fundamental to innovation; increasing both leads to more ideas and solutions being generated and adopted.
🌟 The potential for innovation is vast, but currently, much human potential is untapped, especially in developing nations.
💼 Economic improvement in poorer regions can lead to a rise in inventors, researchers, and thinkers, contributing to global innovation.
💊 The example of a universal cure for cancer illustrates how increased demand and wealth can accelerate medical research and development.
🌍 A global network of innovators could significantly amplify research output, potentially leading to breakthroughs in areas like curing diseases or space exploration.
🌟 The script concludes that working towards a better world is beneficial not only for others but also for personal gain, highlighting the interconnectedness of global prosperity.

Q & A

What was the primary occupation of the world population before the Industrial Revolution?
-Until the Industrial Revolution, the vast majority of the world population worked on farms, with agriculture being the main source of the world's economic output.
How was the world's economy characterized before the Industrial Revolution?
-The world's economy was characterized by a fixed size of land, which limited the total agricultural output, resulting in a zero-sum game where one's gain was another's loss.
What was the main consequence of the stagnation in the pre-Industrial world?
-In a stagnating world, economic inequality was extreme, with some having abundance while others lived with the bare minimum, often leading to conquests and plundering as strategies for gaining more resources.
What significant change did the Industrial Revolution bring to the world's economy?
-The Industrial Revolution led to a massive increase in economic output, transforming the world from a zero-sum game to a positive-sum game, where the economic pie could grow larger each year.
How did the Industrial Revolution impact the production of iron in Britain?
-From 1700 to 1870, the production of iron in Britain increased 137 fold, illustrating the unprecedented growth in industrial productivity.
What is the definition of innovation in the context of this script?
-In the context of this script, innovation is defined as better solutions to existing problems and solutions to problems we didn't know we had.
How does innovation relate to the concept of a positive-sum world?
-In a positive-sum world, innovation is driven by supply and demand, where more people having the freedom and education to contribute increases the supply, and as people get richer, the demand for new solutions grows.
What is the intuitive consequence of living in a positive-sum world?
-In a positive-sum world, it is in one's personal selfish best interest that every human on the planet is well off, as it increases the market for innovations and the potential for global progress.
How does improving the lives of those who are worst off affect innovation?
-Improving the lives of those who are worst off has a multiplying effect on innovation by increasing demand for ideas and making it easier for ideas to be produced, thus contributing to the growth of the global pie.
What is the potential impact of increasing the demand for a cure for cancer globally?
-If global demand for a cure for cancer were to increase, it would attract more investment and innovation in medical research, potentially accelerating the development of treatments and cures.
How does the script suggest that working on a better world is beneficial for both others and oneself?
-The script suggests that working on a better world is beneficial because it creates a positive-sum environment where the more people want the same thing you want, the more likely you are to get it, thus improving the lives of others and your own.

Outlines

00:00

🌾 The Agricultural Age and Zero-Sum Economy

This paragraph discusses the historical context of the world economy, highlighting that until the Industrial Revolution, most people were farmers and the economy was primarily based on agriculture, which was limited by land size. This resulted in a zero-sum game where one's gain was another's loss. The paragraph also touches on the extreme economic inequality and the constant invasions and plundering by societies to secure more resources. The arrival of the Industrial Revolution marked a significant shift, leading to increased agricultural output and a boom in industrial productivity, transforming the world into a positive-sum game where economic growth could benefit everyone.

05:07

🚀 The Power of Innovation and Positive-Sum World

The second paragraph delves into the transformative impact of innovation following the Industrial Revolution. It explains how innovation has led to better solutions and the discovery of new problems, driving continuous economic progress. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of supply and demand in innovation, with supply increasing through education and freedom, and demand growing as people's wealth allows them to seek new solutions. It also discusses the concept of a positive-sum world, where everyone's well-being is interconnected, and the prosperity of others contributes to one's own benefit. The paragraph uses the example of medical research, particularly a cure for cancer, to illustrate how increased demand and wealth can accelerate innovation and potentially save lives.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Agricultural Output

Agricultural output refers to the total production of goods and services from farming activities. In the context of the video, it highlights the historical limitation of economic growth due to the fixed size of arable land, which kept the 'pie' of the world's economy relatively stagnant for centuries. The script mentions that 'the total production of the world's economy was mostly the total agricultural output' before the Industrial Revolution.

💡Zero-Sum Game

A zero-sum game is a situation where one person's gain is another's loss, implying that the total amount of resources or benefits is fixed. The video script uses this term to describe the pre-Industrial Revolution world, where economic growth was limited and one's prosperity often came at the expense of another's decline, as in 'the world was a zero-sum game'.

💡Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution marks a period of significant technological and economic change that began in the late 18th century. The script emphasizes its transformative impact on society by introducing machinery, better crops, and fertilizers, which led to a dramatic increase in agricultural and industrial productivity, as evidenced by the '137 fold increase in the production of iron in Britain from 1700 to 1870'.

💡Positive-Sum Game

A positive-sum game is a situation where it is possible for all parties to benefit, meaning the total gains can exceed the total losses. The video explains how the Industrial Revolution shifted the world from a zero-sum to a positive-sum game, allowing for 'a bigger pie that was growing bigger each year' and enabling simultaneous prosperity for more people.

💡Innovation

Innovation in the video is defined as the development of new ideas and solutions to existing or previously unknown problems. It is central to the massive transformation discussed, driving economic growth and societal change. The script illustrates this with examples of how 'the more you innovate, the more complex and interesting problems you discover'.

💡Economic Growth

Economic growth refers to an increase in the production of goods and services in an economy over time. The video script discusses how the shift from stagnation to economic growth was 'the most drastic shift in human history' and is exemplified by the continuous progress in various sectors such as 'antibiotics killing bacteria' and 'cell phones connecting us'.

💡Supply and Demand

Supply and demand are fundamental economic concepts where supply is the amount of a resource or commodity available, and demand is the desire for that resource or commodity backed by the ability to pay. The script explains how innovation is driven by these forces, with 'the supply increases when more people have the freedom and education to contribute' and 'the demand for ideas increases as people get richer'.

💡Human Potential

Human potential refers to the unused or untapped abilities and talents of individuals. The video script points out the waste of human potential, suggesting that if more people worldwide were better off, their contributions could lead to greater innovation, as in 'if he becomes better off, his children might spend their time in university, developing things that are useful to you'.

💡Global Network

A global network in the context of the video refers to a worldwide interconnected system of collaboration and exchange. The script suggests that a global network of medical research could advance innovation significantly, as in 'if we had a global network of medical research, things would certainly be further ahead than they are now'.

💡Selfish Interest

Selfish interest is the pursuit of one's own benefit or gain. The video argues that in a positive-sum world, it is in one's selfish interest to improve the well-being of others, as it can lead to greater overall prosperity and innovation. The script states, 'it's in your personal selfish best interest that every human on planet earth is well off'.

💡Our World in Data

Our World in Data is a research project that provides accessible data and insights on the past, present, and future of humanity. The video script mentions it as a collaborator, indicating that the content is likely informed by their data-driven approach to understanding global trends and issues.

Highlights

Historically, the majority of the world's population worked on farms, with agriculture being the primary economic output.

Economic output was limited by the fixed size of the land, leading to a zero-sum world where growth was stagnant.

In a zero-sum world, prosperity for one meant loss for another, often through conquest and plundering.

Economic inequality was extreme, with some having abundance while others lived in scarcity.

The Industrial Revolution marked a significant shift, introducing machinery and innovations that increased agricultural and industrial productivity.

Britain's iron production increased 137-fold from 1700 to 1870, exemplifying the unprecedented economic growth.

The nature of societies changed from zero-sum to positive-sum, allowing for a growing economic pie.

Economic growth enabled more people to have more at the same time, a concept that continues today.

Innovation, defined as better solutions to existing and new problems, is at the core of this transformation.

Innovation is driven by evolving desires and needs, leading to the discovery of more complex problems.

The positive-sum world is a recent phenomenon, existing for only 0.1% of human history.

In a positive-sum world, personal selfish interest aligns with the well-being of others globally.

The nature of innovation is supply and demand-driven, with more freedom and education leading to increased supply.

Increased demand for ideas comes from a richer population that can afford new solutions.

Improving the lives of the worst off has a multiplying effect on both the supply and demand for innovation.

A hypothetical scenario of 7 billion people able to pay for cancer treatments could significantly advance medical research.

The potential of global innovation is currently limited by the concentration of wealth and opportunities.

The more people share the same desires, the higher the likelihood of achieving them in a positive-sum world.

The video emphasizes that working towards a better world benefits both others and oneself.

The video was a collaboration with Max Roser and Our World in Data, supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.