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What a Pencil Can Teach Us About Human Progress
The production of a Pencil depends on the cooperation of people across industries and nations.
2 min readDec 1, 2024
Have you ever stopped to think about how a pencil — something so simple, so ordinary — comes into existence? Leonard E. Read’s essay, “I, Pencil,” takes us on an eye-opening journey through the hidden complexity of its creation. It’s not just a story about wood, graphite, and rubber; it’s a lesson in human ingenuity, global cooperation, and the marvel of free-market systems.
Interconnectedness
The creation of even the simplest object, like a pencil, involves countless people from around the world — miners, loggers, chemists, and more — none of whom know the entire process.
No Central Planner
No single person or authority plans or oversees the production of a pencil, yet it is made efficiently, illustrating the power of decentralized systems.
