In "Moral Disagreement", Appiah basically explains the differences in morality across different cultures. While our typical family is based on a mother, a father, and the kids, in Africa it is based on relationships through solely the women. Taboos for one culture may be completely acceptable in others, in addition, they may also be understood by other cultures as a taboo, but for a different reason than how the original culture defines the taboo. In conclusion I feel that Appiah emphasized that we all will always be able to disagree on moral issues, because there are so many both subtle and vast differences between definitions, ideas, and cultures. I think that moral issues are ones that may never be fully resolved, and so in this respect I agree with Appiah. I also appreciate that he began his last paragraph with "And so it goes", a frequently used line by Kurt Vonnegut, which basically entails that in the end life goes on, and for some topics we must simply agree to disagree.
In "While I Was Sleeping", Friedman speaks of how the world is being flattened. Essentially he means that the playing field is being leveled as globalization takes over. Many different people from many different places can all communicate with one another in real time simultaneously. This means that the knowledge base for the world is being centralized, which has two possible outcomes. One is a great new era of prosperity and innovation, and the other is destruction. The destruction is rooted in terrorism and harmful minds. Just as good ideas can now spread quickly, so can destructive ones. I agree whole-heartedly with Friedman that this "flattening" of the world can be an excellent innovative advantage for the whole world, and I also agree with his concern for its potential for negative effects. As Uncle Ben once said, "With great power, comes great responsibility".
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