HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
•
FEBRUARY 2013
73
HEMISPHERES:
When you see an
extraordinary idea pop out, what’s
usually behind it?
ZAKARIA:
I think that at a very
fundamental level, it’s the inter-
action between human beings.
That depends on openness, because
open systems tend to be much more
innovative. It’s no accident that the
Renaissance began in the Mediter-
ranean. I’ve always wondered what
brought the Middle Ages to an end,
and what you see is that trading
began in the Mediterranean when
Italy became a center of commerce.
Trading took place in Venice and
Genoa, and then you start to see it
happening in Holland and England.
Because seafaring cities were not
as brutally suppressive of the mer-
chant class, seaports have always
been open and cosmopolitan, and
hubs of innovation.
HEMISPHERES:
But aren’t some of
the biggest innovations coming out
of societies that aren’t all that open,
like China?
ZAKARIA:
Not really. This ability
to interact openly—without any
kind of constraint—is key. Which is
why I think America still has a huge
advantage. The Chinese may put in
all this money and effort, but when
you work at a Chinese university
you are very deferential toward the
chairman of the department, toward
the dean, toward your mentor,
and you would not dare question
anything they say. [Former Microso
CTO] Nathan Myhrvold, the amazing
technologist and innovator, always
begins his lectures by saying, “I want
you to remember that everything I
am saying may be wrong and I want
you to question everything that
I’m saying.” You won’t hear that at a
Chinese lecture hall.
HEMISPHERES:
But they’ve certainly
mastered the technological spectacle.
Do you think that building the fastest
train or the tallest building matters in
terms of true innovation?
ZAKARIA:
It’s a certain kind of
showing off, but then there’s a
certain energy that comes with it.
Did it really ma er whether we
were the first to go to the moon?
Yes, because it organized a society in
a way that enabled and supported
science. Human beings like to race,
and I wouldn’t be so blasé to say that
these kinds of things are essentially
meaningless and we should never
strive to do anything where we’re
No. 1. Maybe we’ve matured past it.
But I think it would be great if the
U.S. had the world’s fastest trains.
Why shouldn’t that be an aspiration?
I think it would be amazing if we
could have the world’s fastest
broadband. Why shouldn’t we?
HEMISPHERES:
I’d settle for a cellphone
that works, but that’s just me. You’ve
said that innovation really doesn’t
come from always winning, but from
a series of fairly efficient failures. Yet
many American companies, particularly
public ones, are calibrated more for
short-term gains.
ZAKARIA:
Not enough businesses
think strategically in that sense.
Failure is good as long as it’s efficient
and you learn from it. People in
Silicon Valley say they love failures.
That’s not exactly right—the guy who
founded PayPal who then goes on to
his next thing
CONTINUED ON PAGE 130
»
LORENZO BEVILAQUA (JIABAO); PIERRE VERDY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES (ZUMA); PAUL MAROTTA/GETTY IMAGES (FAMILY). PREVIOUS SPREAD: JOHN NOWAK
FAREED ZAKARIA
BY THE NUMBERS
Age
49
“
Fareed Zakaria GPS”
Emmy nominations
3
“
Fareed Zakaria GPS”
Peabody Award wins
1
“
Fareed Zakaria GPS” viewership
509,000
@
FareedZakaria Twi er followers*
275,655
Books wri en
3
Highest spot on
New York Times
bestseller list
(
for
The Post-American World
)
2
Appearances on “The Daily Show
With Jon Stewart”
16
Ranking on
Foreign Policy
’
s
“100
top global thinkers” list (2010)
27
Ranking on
Forbes’
“25
most influential liberals in
U.S. media” list (2009)
11
Ranking on
O
magazine’s
“16
sexiest men alive” list (2006)
14
*
As of January 2013
“
It would be great if the U.S. had the
world’s fastest trains. I think it would
be amazing if we could have the world’s
fastest broadband. Why shouldn’t we?”
