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behavior scales to the world now—and the world scales

English translation: my behaviour directly affects the wider world and vice-versa

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:behavior scales to the world now—and the world scales
Selected answer:my behaviour directly affects the wider world and vice-versa
Entered by: Lisa Jane

18:22 Jan 28, 2019
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Government / Politics
English term or phrase: behavior scales to the world now—and the world scales
Hello everyone,

From the book Thank You for Being Late by Thomas Friedman.

We as a species have never been to this intersection before. That we are becoming more godlike in our powers is indisputable. Today, “if you can imagine it, it will happen,” argues Eric Leuthardt, the neuroscientist. “It is just a matter of how much it will cost. If you can imagine mass chaos or a mass solution to poverty or malaria, you can make it happen more [easily] than ever before.” The scalability of individual behavior is both a problem and a solution today. “Individual behavior can now have global consequences. ***My behavior scales to the world now—and the world scales to me.***”

I understand "scalability of individual behavior" to imply that power (possibilities, what one can do) of an individual has become very big - one person (or a small group) can affect the whole world by their actions.

But I'm not sure that I understand what "My behavior scales to the world now—and the world scales to me" mean. The use of "scale" seems odd to me.

Thank you.
Mikhail Korolev
Local time: 19:56
my behaviour directly affects the wider world and vice-versa
Explanation:
I think it means that through globalization, tecnological growth and the power of the media what I do on a small scale can soon have consequences worldwide and these effects may, in turn, change the way the world is for me in the future.
This works both for positive advancements or innovation and negative/unecological behaviour
Selected response from:

Lisa Jane
Italy
Local time: 18:56
Grading comment
Many thanks to everyone.
Thank you, Lisa.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +1my behaviour directly affects the wider world and vice-versa
Lisa Jane
3both grow
Vinícius da Silva


Discussion entries: 3





  

Answers


19 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
both grow


Explanation:
My behavior scales at the same proportion as the world, things that happen in the world can affect individuals, and individuals can affect the whole world too.

Vinícius da Silva
Brazil
Local time: 13:56
Native speaker of: Portuguese
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
my behaviour directly affects the wider world and vice-versa


Explanation:
I think it means that through globalization, tecnological growth and the power of the media what I do on a small scale can soon have consequences worldwide and these effects may, in turn, change the way the world is for me in the future.
This works both for positive advancements or innovation and negative/unecological behaviour

Lisa Jane
Italy
Local time: 18:56
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in ItalianItalian
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Many thanks to everyone.
Thank you, Lisa.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Björn Vrooman: Yes, scalability is not a one-way street: https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/scale to "...scales to me" = got the world "in the palm of my hand" (scaling down, not up). See Twitterati's use of social media to affect business decisions.
18 hrs
  -> Yes exactly!
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