內容簡介
佛里曼的21世紀生存指南
《紐約時報》最受歡迎專欄作家
700家國際媒體固定轉載
盤踞Amazon暢銷排行榜前三名
看過本書你永遠不會再以同樣的方式看世界，
在數位全球化、氣候變遷及摩爾定律三股勢力的拉扯下，
你的工作價值、你的孩子教育方針、你該如何投資，
你如何解讀新聞、你該面對的地緣政治和國家政策，
都將走向你從沒想到的方。
本書為《紐約時報》暢銷書作者湯瑪斯‧佛里曼至今最具抱負的一本書，他在書中用許多精彩的實例，告訴我們現在世界已經進入到一個快到令人目眩神迷的地步，並為我們提供一些良方，教我們如何自在安處於這個快速變遷的世界。
由於科技的指數型發展，現在攀登世界最高峰艾佛勒斯峰的登山客，也能享用智慧型手機的服務，無人駕駛的自動車輛更是陸續在各國合法上路。世界各國的經濟相互依賴雖然造成令各國恐慌的債務危機，但也開啟了各種新的利基市場。在科技蓬勃發展的同時，由於二氧化碳排放量遽升、物種滅絕速度加快，大自然之母承受了劇烈變化，環境惡化日益加劇。
這些變化可能造成什麼相互作用？我們又該採取什麼對策有效因應？佛里曼帶我們回到他在明尼蘇達州的童年時光，回到那個政府仍然高效運作、躋身中產階級不是夢的年代，對照今昔的發展。相較之下，今天無論是當創客（3D列印）或破壞者（IS用Twitter組織行動）都比較容易，但若想成為領導者或「中等階級」，卻比以往任何時代都更加困難。
佛里曼總結，無論是國家或個人都必須學習快的能力（具備創新和快速適應的能力），但也要公平（準備好幫助這些變革的受害者），同時更要掌握慢的能力（了解在何時關閉外部噪音，回歸最深層的價值）。本書充滿洞見、影響力和睿智觀點，實為21世紀思維的卓越藍圖。
A field guide to the twenty-first century, written by one of its most celebrated observers
We all sense it—something big is going on. You feel it in your workplace. You feel it when you talk to your kids. You can’t miss it when you read the newspapers or watch the news. Our lives are being transformed in so many realms all at once—and it is dizzying.
In Thank You for Being Late, a work unlike anything he has attempted before, Thomas L. Friedman exposes the tectonic movements that are reshaping the world today and explains how to get the most out of them and cushion their worst impacts. You will never look at the world the same way again after you read this book: how you understand the news, the work you do, the education your kids need, the investments your employer has to make, and the moral and geopolitical choices our country has to navigate will all be refashioned by Friedman’s original analysis.
Friedman begins by taking us into his own way of looking at the world—how he writes a column. After a quick tutorial, he proceeds to write what could only be called a giant column about the twenty-first century. His thesis: to understand the twenty-first century, you need to understand that the planet’s three largest forces—Moore’s law (technology), the Market (globalization), and Mother Nature (climate change and biodiversity loss)—are accelerating all at once. These accelerations are transforming five key realms: the workplace, politics, geopolitics, ethics, and community.
Why is this happening? As Friedman shows, the exponential increase in computing power defined by Moore’s law has a lot to do with it. The year 2007 was a major inflection point: the release of the iPhone, together with advances in silicon chips, software, storage, sensors, and networking, created a new technology platform. Friedman calls this platform “the supernova”—for it is an extraordinary release of energy that is reshaping everything from how we hail a taxi to the fate of nations to our most intimate relationships. It is creating vast new opportunities for individuals and small groups to save the world—or to destroy it.
Thank You for Being Late is a work of contemporary history that serves as a field manual for how to write and think about this era of accelerations. It’s also an argument for “being late”—for pausing to appreciate this amazing historical epoch we’re passing through and to reflect on its possibilities and dangers. To amplify this point, Friedman revisits his Minnesota hometown in his moving concluding chapters; there, he explores how communities can create a “topsoil of trust” to anchor their increasingly diverse and digital populations.
With his trademark vitality, wit, and optimism, Friedman shows that we can overcome the multiple stresses of an age of accelerations—if we slow down, if we dare to be late and use the time to reimagine work, politics, and community. Thank You for Being Late is Friedman’s most ambitious book—and an essential guide to the present and the future.