<human>:  In the book, ‘The World is Flat’ by Thomas Friedman, what does the author mean by the term ‘flat’?
<bot>: The author means that the world is becoming more and more flat, in the sense that the world is becoming more and more interconnected. This means that people are able to communicate and work with people from all over the world, and that technology is making it easier for people to do this.