In "While I Was Sleeping", author Thomas Friedman writes about globalization and the 3 stages the world has been through to get to today. The 3 stages are first the globalization of countries, then the globalization of companies, and finally the globalization of the individual. Friedman also writes about his realization that the world is flat. When Friedman was told by Nilekani, the CEO of Infosys Technologies Limited, that the playing field was being leveled, Friedman came to the conclusion that the world is flat. He does not mean physically flat, but "flat" meaning communication is no longer limited by country's distances from one another or by oceans. Individuals from different countries on different continents can communicate nowadays simply by turning on a flat screen television.

In "Moral Disagreement", author Kwame Appiah writes about the differences betweens morals and taboos in different cultures. According to Appiah, a moral differs from a taboo because the consequence of violating a moral is typically guilt which cannot be "washed away", while the consequence of committing an act considered taboo is to cleanse yourself of the impurity that you now have. He also writes about how differences in cultural norms between societies does not mean one is "wrong" or "worse" compared to the other.