Summary of Zero to One Book by Peter Thiel, Blake Masters

The future will be the future if it is different from today, in other words, if the world we live in does not change in a thousand years, then the future is still a thousand years away. If we have changes in this decade, then the future is now. We may not know much about the future, but it will be different from the present and will emerge from today's world.

There are two types of progress:
Horizontal progress — a type of progress that occur from being a copycat. It entails going from one to n. If you have a computer, and you build 200 more, you have only achieved horizontal progress.
Vertical progress — this is achieved by doing something new. It is getting from zero to one. Vertical progress is more difficult to achieve because it is an endeavor that has never done before. For instance, if you have a computer, then you build a word processor, this is vertical progress.

Globalization is another form of horizontal progress, it is the taking of an idea from one place and applying it elsewhere. You can only make vertical progress from technological breakthroughs, and this doesn't just describe computers. If you discover a new way to do something, that is technology.

Both globalization and technology are different types of progress, and they might not occur concurrently. One can occur without the other, and both can happen simultaneously, or maybe neither of them. Between these two progress terms, technology is the defining force of the future.

It is inevitable to think the world is nearing a sort of end state. The term “developed world” means some countries are on another level of technological advancement, and the less developed ones need to catch up.

The technology in today's world is not sustainable, especially if all countries adopt it. There are limited resources, and the environment cannot sustain the level of pollution it would generate. Therefore, globalization without advances in technology would make the planet inhabitable.

At the beginning of this decade, many people thought technology would improve tremendously, that humans would no longer have to work for many hours, vacationing to the moon would no longer be a fantasy, and we would all be riding in flying cars. As it is, the only vertical progress made is computer technology.

Progress does not come automatically, we must first imagine it, then translate it into improving the world we live.