If there is such a thing as Humans 4.0—an even more enlightened kind of people—I’d like to nominate the individuals who helped make this book possible.
A heartfelt thanks goes to James Jayo for being the first to see the potential of this idea and for allowing it to proceed, and for giving the manuscript such a superb edit. I’m also grateful to Susanne Alexander at Goose Lane Editions and Scott Pack at The Friday Project for their enthusiasm and support.
Jordan Kerbel was a fantastic facilitator in Israel while Avi Ben Josef was an excellent tour guide (and guitarist). David Carruth was immensely helpful in translating Korean for me, while my good friends Kasi Desfor and Gina Murray were exceptionally welcoming hosts in Denmark.
A big thank you goes to everyone who took the time to share their expertise with me for this project, but I’m afraid they’re too numerous to list here. I hope that a sincere group “thanks” is enough, but if it isn’t, please let me know and I’ll buy you a beer.
My friends Kenny Yum, Andre Mayer, and Shane Dingman—all editors extraordinaire—each did me a huge favor by reading through early versions of the manuscript. Without their help, it surely would have been less readable and contained considerably more vulgar attempts at humor.
Throughout the whole process, I often marveled at the patience of my agents at Westwood Creative. How Chris Casuccio and John Pearce put up with me at times, I’ll never know, but I’m glad they did.
Speaking of patience, my beautiful wife, Claudette, gets the biggest thanks of all for joining me on this rollercoaster. Writing a book, just like human evolution, is full of ups and downs. I’m immensely grateful that she stood by me through all of it.
Last but not least, a heartfelt thank you, gentle reader, for choosing to spend your time here.