The Good Ancestor: A Radical Prescription for Long-Term Thinking
Aug 2021 · The Experiment + ORM
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About this ebook
From leading philosopher Roman Krznaric, author of History for Tomorrow, an urgent call to save ourselves and our planet by getting to the root of the current crisis—society's extreme short-sightedness
As heard on NPR's TED Radio Hour When Jonas Salk developed the polio vaccine, he refused to patent it—forgoing profit so that more lives could be saved. His radical generosity to future generations should inspire us, but leading philosopher Roman Krznaric sees the opposite happening: Our short-term, exploitative mindsets have "colonized the future," leaving an inexcusable chasm between the haves and have-nots—and mounting existential threats—that have brought our species to the precipice of disaster.
Yet Krznaric sees reason to hope. The urgent struggle for intergenerational justice calls for hugely ambitious solutions, from rewiring our growth-at-all-costs economy to giving voters of future generations a voice in our democracies. But at the heart of all these changes is one we can enact within ourselves: We must trade shortsightedness for long-term thinking. In The Good Ancestor, Krznaric reveals six practical ways we can retrain our brains to think of the long view and to shift our allegiance from this generation to all humanity—to save our planet and our future.
As heard on NPR's TED Radio Hour When Jonas Salk developed the polio vaccine, he refused to patent it—forgoing profit so that more lives could be saved. His radical generosity to future generations should inspire us, but leading philosopher Roman Krznaric sees the opposite happening: Our short-term, exploitative mindsets have "colonized the future," leaving an inexcusable chasm between the haves and have-nots—and mounting existential threats—that have brought our species to the precipice of disaster.
Yet Krznaric sees reason to hope. The urgent struggle for intergenerational justice calls for hugely ambitious solutions, from rewiring our growth-at-all-costs economy to giving voters of future generations a voice in our democracies. But at the heart of all these changes is one we can enact within ourselves: We must trade shortsightedness for long-term thinking. In The Good Ancestor, Krznaric reveals six practical ways we can retrain our brains to think of the long view and to shift our allegiance from this generation to all humanity—to save our planet and our future.
From leading philosopher Roman Krznaric, author of History for Tomorrow, an urgent call to save ourselves and our planet by getting to the root of the current crisis—society's extreme short-sightedness
As heard on NPR's TED Radio Hour When Jonas Salk developed the polio vaccine, he refused to pa...
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About the author
Roman Krznaric is a cultural thinker and founding faculty member of The School of Life. He studied at the universities of Oxford, London and Essex, and has taught in Cambridge and London, where he gained his PhD. For several years he was Project Director at The Oxford Muse. His books include The Wonderbox: Curious Histories of How to Live and How to Find Fulfilling Work, and Empathy. He is the founder of the world's first Empathy Museum and of the digital Empathy Library.
Roman Krznaric is a cultural thinker and founding faculty member of The School of Life. He studied at the universities of Oxford, London and Essex, and has taught in Cambridge and London, where he gained his PhD. For several years he was Project Director at The Oxford Muse. His books include The ...
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