Nonzero

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Robert Wright wrote a book called Nonzero a few years back that goes into this in more depth. The idea is that civilization's advance is defined by finding ways to turn zero-sum games (e.g. we kill you and take your resources for ourselves) into non-zero-sum games (e.g. we trade with you). War, as Scott Adams says in this post, isn't all that efficient a way of advancing your aims, especially as a developed country.

Has anyone else read "Nonzero" by Robert Wright? It's one of two nonfiction books that have noticeably improved my understanding of the world, with almost daily benefits. (The other is The Black Swan.)

…have actually affected the way I do things tend much more towards theory and frameworks of thought. Our little startup has three holy texts: "Nonzero" by Robert Wright, "The Paradox of Choice" by Barry Schwartz, and "Fooled By Randomness" by Nassim Taleb (which is even more sanctimonious than "The Seven Habits...", but a lot better, too).