If you want to know why the US leads the world in tech, science, development and ideas look at #Bitcoin — a new superior tech model comes along and instantly thousands of people leave their jobs for startups, venture capitalists put down hundreds of millions on new ideas, old guard companies shift direction immediately, meetups and conferences spring up, universities start new classes and innovation flourishes.

People in markets who fail ask “why?” where those in markets who succeed ask “why not?”

This is not only true in the US: the most Bitcoin friendly countries, Singapore, the UK, Japan, Germany, Canada, Nordic countries etc. are also a whose who lose of places where the standard of living is high. The countries most against Bitcoin and other new ideas tend to be those rife with corruption, strong central controls which drive away creative innovation, weak economies and low standards of living.

Whether this tech thrives or fails, the thinking behind innovation and the mentality of those people in nations which embrace change is a powerful lesson. The next Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and Cisco will only come out of those countries where innovation and creation is encouraged.

I’m especially interested in this map and the “undetermined” areas. For Africa and the Middle East a clear road is ahead with two paths: the path of centralized control which has wrought failure and misery to people or a path of economic freedom which has brought prosperity.