Tuesday, March 27, 2012

How Containerization Shaped the Modern World

Uploaded by TEDEducation on Mar 11, 2012  h/t Ace of Spades



Comment:

Moving stuff from one place to another- that's what I've done for a living for the past 28 years. So this little video is interesting on that aspect alone.

But more than that. The concept of what wealth actually is and where it comes from is perfectly illustrated here. What is wealth? I've seen a definition of it as availability of goods. The video points out that containerization of cargo makes goods available to everybody, not just the very rich. This is wealth and how it is produced. Goods that weren't available prior to this idea being implemented are now commonplace. The world and everyone in it is wealthier as a result.

Secondly, the idea was considered crazy by naysayers at the time of its introduction. That pattern is repeated again and again for every new idea that comes along. Somebody thinks it's crazy, but it turns out to be a great thing. The moral of that story is this: for every new idea, check it out. There may be something of great value right under your nose.

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