PT13.S4.Q08 - Emerging Info Tech

MISC_K79

In Oscar's argument, he mentions "..and thus a country's economic well-being will not be a function of its geographical position..."
What the hell is "function of geographical position"? I have no idea what this means.
Does being northern or southern itself implicates any function? or does "economic well-being" serves as a function?

I get the idea that generally north is rich and south is poor as presupposed in the stimuli but simply don't understand that phrase.

Can somebody help?

hendricks

Hey there. Definitely understand your frustration. I hate running into awkward wording that confuses my approach to the answers.

In this case, "function of geographic position" is establishing a causal relationship. It's saying that, at one point, geography determined economics. Now, technology is eliminating that relationship. In other words, it is no longer a function.

In technical terms, the way "function of" is used here is describing a deterministic input-to-output relationship. Oscar is saying that, before technology, 'If you tell me whether they are north or south, I can tell you about their economic well-being'.

I hope that helps.

MISC_K79

@hendricks Thank you so much for the explanation. Now I get it!!