What made it possible for the human species to conquer the world, build
a global digital economy, and still want more? What drives technological
progress and economic growth in the long run and on a global scale? And
how will technological progress, economic growth, and the overall
prosperity of human civilization unfold in the future?
This book sheds new light on these big questions by incorporating
findings from physics, anthropology, psychology, history, philosophy,
and computer science in a brand-new theory of economic growth. Looking
back across the millennia, it identifies five major technological
revolutions which have transformed humankind's capacity to process
energy and information--the cognitive, agricultural, scientific,
industrial, and digital revolutions--and characterizes the new avenues
of economic development which they have opened while also exponentially
accelerating growth.