This is indeed terrifying. A couple of years ago I read a book called, Civilization:The West and the Rest by Niall ferguson. He does a good job explaining the world in the 1300. If you were to look at the world back then, comparing Europe to China, you'd have never believed Europe would be the one dominating the world for the next 500 years. The reason China failed, at a time it was more advanced than everyone else, was because it decided to close itself in from the outside world. Europe, on the hand, focused on exploration, international trade and thrived. Reading this worries me that Europe will make the same mistake China did 700 years ago.