It is important to define the scope of technological products that are truly original—from 0 to 1. An equally intriguing question is: to what extent can a novel technological product be globalized — or is it inherently non-copyable?
We can observe that there are novel products that are easily globalized, while others that are extremely hard to globalize. Both may represent breakthroughs, but they differ significantly in their copyability. PayPal and Uber were easily globalized in China, India, and many other places. In some cases, the localized versions even outperformed the originals. By comparison, the SaaS industry never fully took root in the Chinese economy, even during its fastest-growing years. An extreme example is Palantir: there is effectively only one such company. Even if many countries desired a similar product and had vast resources to invest, they could not effectively build anything truly comparable.
Another way to frame this question is: What is the scope of builds that can be globalized (or copied) by another country or another group of builders? Is there a category of products that are fundamentally non-globalizable? If so, how do we define this category?
To explore this problem, we look at two types of builds — materialistic builds and idealistic builds—and the boundary between them.
Materialistic builds are efforts to advance in the material world.
Materialistic powers can develop materialistic builds with a competitive edge. One example is manufacturing: China’s manufacturing base enjoys advantages in both the supply of skilled workers and the low cost of production inputs. Another example is consumer internet. Consumer internet products provide easy access to services in daily routines, from door-to-door food delivery to shared bikes. All consumer internet products are easily globalized. Countries with large populations hold a decisive comparative advantage in this space. For similar reasons, self-driving algorithms may develop faster in China and India due to the sheer volume of available data. General robotics can also be developed effectively in China because of its manufacturing edge. These advantages in mobilizing material resources not only aid globalization but also drive innovation in such efforts. Idealistic communities can attempt similar builds, but they often lack the competitive advantage in mobilizing material resources and low-cost human resources that materialistic powers possess.
Idealistic builds originate from a mental process — an ideal conceived through a unique process of intellect, selection from an infinite space of possibilities, and sustained will. They have to be simultaneously ideal (rooted in a vision or thesis that transcends material utility or efficiency) and real (manifested as a functional product in the world).
The true essence of an idealistic build lies not in the visible code, features, or output, but in the underlying mental process and ideological coherence that created it. This long process of intellect and will is invisible from the final product alone and cannot be reverse-engineered or repeated without enormous cost.
For idealistic builds, we may know that they exist, but we may not know exactly what they are. As the existence of the ideal is immaterial, they do not belong to the same category of things as objects in the material world. Their forms are indifferent to material existence or non-existence. They can only be conceived through a mental process that involves selecting from an infinitely large space of ideals. It is the idealist builder who brings this ideal into the world, and only then does the ideal become real.
It is easy to see that a non-materialistic build is not necessarily an idealistic build. An idealistic build must be simultaneously ideal and real, whereas an ideal that remains unrealized, or rests on an untrue thesis, cannot qualify as a build.
We can also observe that no materialistic builds are uncopyable. It is only a matter of cost and efficiency.
Conversely, not all idealistic builds can be replicated. For an idealistic build, although the realistic side of the ideal is visible in the product, the underlying mental process is not replicable.
If we lay all builds on the spectrum, we will realize the existence of an Idealist Wall, which exists somewhere on the spectrum of all valid builds. The builds on the right side of the wall are the Idealist Builds. They cannot be copied by a materialistic community, while everything on the left side can be copied to varying degrees. The farther to the left, the easier it is to globalize. The farther to the right, the harder it becomes. The most idealistic builds exist only in their original forms.
*A very coarse spectrum for conceptual demonstration, not for precise classification
To further contemplate the properties of idealist builds, we know that at least one of the following is true for an idealist build in a materialistic jurisdiction.
- The underlying thesis is banned in a materialist jurisdiction.
- There is no viable market to support a build based on such a thesis.
- There are attempts to re-create (copy) the idea, but they fail.
Lastly, we can conclude that not only is there no way to copy such a build, but there is also little real need to do so. If another group of builders tries to repeat the process, the cost becomes prohibitively high that it either fails outright, or if the builders are intelligent and courageous enough, they would rather end up with something completely different and original.
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