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Roman Krznaric
The Good Ancestor: A Radical Prescription for Long-Term Thinking Hardcover – 3 November 2020
by Roman Krznaric (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 312 ratings
So said Jonas Salk, who developed the polio vaccine in 1953 but refused to patent it--forgoing profit so that more lives could be saved.
Salk's radical generosity to future generations should inspire us. But when leading philosopher Roman Krznaric examines society today, he sees just the opposite: Our short term, exploitative mindsets have "colonized the future." Businesses eschew civic responsibility for immediate gains, politicians throw their support behind whatever will win the next election, and we all struggle to focus our attention beyond the next alert from our phones. The result? An inexcusable chasm between the haves and have-nots--and mounting existential threats--have brought our species to the precipice of disaster.
Yet Krznaric sees reason to hope. Yes, 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, including
- Deep-Time Humility (recognizing our lives as a cosmic eyeblink) and
- Cathedral Thinking (starting projects that will take more than one lifetime to complete).
His aim is to inspire more "time rebels" like Greta Thunberg--to shift our allegiance from this generation to all humanity--in short,
to save our planet and our future.
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Print length 336 pages
Product details
Publisher : Experiment (3 November 2020)
Language : English
Hardcover : 336 pages
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 312 ratings
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
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Roman Krznaric
Roman Krznaric is a public philosopher who writes about the power of ideas to change society. His internationally bestselling books, including The Good Ancestor, Empathy, The Wonderbox and Carpe Diem Regained, have been published in more than 20 languages.
After growing up in Sydney and Hong Kong, Roman studied at the universities of Oxford, London and Essex, where he gained his PhD in political sociology. He went on to found the world’s first Empathy Museum and is currently a research fellow of the Long Now Foundation and a member of the Club of Rome. His writings have been widely influential amongst political and ecological campaigners, education reformers, social entrepreneurs and designers.
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Catherine
5.0 out of 5 stars tomorrow is todayReviewed in the United States on 17 July 2023
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this book is inspirational. It should be required reading for everyone who wonders where we’re heading by placing the reader front and centre of our present perilous planetary situation. Provides imaginative and realistic processes and pathways. Tell your friends and families to join in the conversations about our legacy as good ancestors.
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pilar cruz
5.0 out of 5 stars Muy interesanteReviewed in Spain on 7 August 2023
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Lo recomiendo
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David Renteria
3.0 out of 5 stars Llegó sucio y ligeramente maltratadoReviewed in Mexico on 1 March 2021
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El libro llegó sin film plástico, lo cual me parece algo bueno para evitar generar más basura y espero que siga así. Lamentablemente el libro llegó manchado y con las orillas ligeramente aplastadas. Sería bueno tener los libros en alguna bodega más limpia para que aún sin plástico se mantengan en buenas condiciones.
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Luiz Lizardo
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book!Reviewed in Canada on 15 December 2020
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Great perspective on long term thinking perspective, it really makes us reflect on what we are doing now and what we want to leave for future generations. Love it!
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Shreerang
5.0 out of 5 stars great thoughts ...Reviewed in India on 23 April 2021
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not yet completed reading..... but enjoying certain wonderful thoughts. contains several now-a-days' examples and stories. A must for those who love to have home library.
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==
Print length 336 pages
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Contents
Krznaric R (2020) (07:51) Good Ancestor, The - How to Think Long Term in a Short Term World
About the Author
Preface
Part I: The Tug of War for Time
01. How Can We Be Good Ancestors?
02. The Marshmallow and the Acorn: Inside Our Time-Torn Brains
Part II: Six Ways to Think Long
03. Deep-Time Humility: Humankind as an Eyeblink in Cosmic History
04. Legacy Mindset: How Can We Be Remembered Well?
05. Intergenerational Justice: Reasons to Respect the Seventh Generation
06. Cathedral Thinking: The Art of Planning into the Distant Future
07. Holistic Forecasting: Long-Term Pathways for Civilisation
08. Transcendent Goal: A Lodestar to Guide Humanity
Part III: Bring On the Time Rebellion
09. Deep Democracy: Is There an Antidote for Political Myopia?
10. Ecological Civilisation: From Speculative Capitalism to Regenerative Economy
11. Cultural Evolution: Storytelling, Design and the Rise of Virtual Futures
12. The Path of the Good Ancestor
Appendix: The Intergenerational Solidarity Index
Acknowledgments
Endnotes
List of Illustrations
Bibliography
Index
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Product description
Review
2020 Foreword INDIES Honorable Mention
As heard on NPR's TED Radio Hour
"Beautiful to read, heartfelt, and persuasive . . . one of those landmark books with the power to shift a mindset. One turns the pages feeling a growing compulsion for change.--Isabella Tree, author of Wilding
A fascinating and inspiring exploration of one of the great relationship questions of the 21st century: How can we extend our circle of care to future generations?--John Gray, New York Times-bestselling author of Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus
A great antidote to the short-term thinking that comes easily to us all. If you want to be a good ancestor, start by reading this book.--Nigel Warburton, author of A Little History of Philosophy and founder of the Philosophy Bites podcast
A philosopher's contribution to saving the world.-- "The Guardian"
A provocative and well-written . . . essay on the history of the human race and its possible future.-- "Choice"
A work of genius that draws on the wisdom-traditions of cultures from across the globe.--Martin Kalungu-Banda, Ubuntu Lab and Saïd Business School, Oxford University
Full of revelations for everyone who cares about the legacy they leave. This is the book our children's children will thank us for reading.--The Edge, U2
I judge a book's usefulness by how many pages I'm compelled to dog-ear and underline. This book on the pragmatics of long-term thinking earned 50-plus dog-ears.--Stewart Brand, creator of the Whole Earth Catalog and co-founder of The Long Now Foundation
It is a cliché to declare a book essential reading, but in this case it is true. In a little more than 300 pages Krznaric develops a powerful set of concepts and a frame that will serve to refresh and undergird the civic rationale of public planning.-- "Journal of the American Planning Association"
Krznaric asks the defining moral question for our age: How will future generations look back on our legacy? A superb intellectual history and razor-sharp analysis of contemporary politics, this book will change how you think about the worldand is a call to action. Read it. You owe it to your children's children.--Kevin Watkins, Chief Executive, Save the Children
Krznaric's seamless and magical prose delights on every page. Let's engrave his 'six ways to think long' across the gateway to every Parliament in the world.--Professor Tim Jackson, author of Prosperity Without Growth
Philosopher Roman Krznaric calmly calls for a reorientation toward the future, not to benefit us, but to benefit our far-off descendants. . . . [The point is] to emphasize the agency of the present moment and the potential, however imperfect, to influence the future.-- "The Atlantic"
Roman Krznaric addresses the greatest challenge confronting the world: How can humanity survive this century and flourish in the next? His book deserves to be widely read--by policy makers, and indeed by all citizens who care about the prospects for their children and grandchildren.--Professor Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal and author of On The Future
Roman Krznaric passionately argues that thinking long term would bring untold benefits and may very well be vital to our survival as a species. Lose yourself in these pages, expand your time horizons, and reimagine your relationship to time, to the future--Rob Hopkins, founder of the Transition Town movement and author of From What Is to What If
The individualistic philosophies of the last century have generated huge concentrations of wealth--but at the same time put us on the road to social, political, and environmental collapse. This clear-sighted and inspiring book suggests a different view of who humans are and what they really value--and a number of ways off that lethal road. It's a must-read for anyone who's looking for the good news.-- "musician and composer Brian Eno"
Product description
Review
2020 Foreword INDIES Honorable Mention
As heard on NPR's TED Radio Hour
"Beautiful to read, heartfelt, and persuasive . . . one of those landmark books with the power to shift a mindset. One turns the pages feeling a growing compulsion for change.--Isabella Tree, author of Wilding
A fascinating and inspiring exploration of one of the great relationship questions of the 21st century: How can we extend our circle of care to future generations?--John Gray, New York Times-bestselling author of Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus
A great antidote to the short-term thinking that comes easily to us all. If you want to be a good ancestor, start by reading this book.--Nigel Warburton, author of A Little History of Philosophy and founder of the Philosophy Bites podcast
A philosopher's contribution to saving the world.-- "The Guardian"
A provocative and well-written . . . essay on the history of the human race and its possible future.-- "Choice"
A work of genius that draws on the wisdom-traditions of cultures from across the globe.--Martin Kalungu-Banda, Ubuntu Lab and Saïd Business School, Oxford University
Full of revelations for everyone who cares about the legacy they leave. This is the book our children's children will thank us for reading.--The Edge, U2
I judge a book's usefulness by how many pages I'm compelled to dog-ear and underline. This book on the pragmatics of long-term thinking earned 50-plus dog-ears.--Stewart Brand, creator of the Whole Earth Catalog and co-founder of The Long Now Foundation
It is a cliché to declare a book essential reading, but in this case it is true. In a little more than 300 pages Krznaric develops a powerful set of concepts and a frame that will serve to refresh and undergird the civic rationale of public planning.-- "Journal of the American Planning Association"
Krznaric asks the defining moral question for our age: How will future generations look back on our legacy? A superb intellectual history and razor-sharp analysis of contemporary politics, this book will change how you think about the worldand is a call to action. Read it. You owe it to your children's children.--Kevin Watkins, Chief Executive, Save the Children
Krznaric's seamless and magical prose delights on every page. Let's engrave his 'six ways to think long' across the gateway to every Parliament in the world.--Professor Tim Jackson, author of Prosperity Without Growth
Philosopher Roman Krznaric calmly calls for a reorientation toward the future, not to benefit us, but to benefit our far-off descendants. . . . [The point is] to emphasize the agency of the present moment and the potential, however imperfect, to influence the future.-- "The Atlantic"
Roman Krznaric addresses the greatest challenge confronting the world: How can humanity survive this century and flourish in the next? His book deserves to be widely read--by policy makers, and indeed by all citizens who care about the prospects for their children and grandchildren.--Professor Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal and author of On The Future
Roman Krznaric passionately argues that thinking long term would bring untold benefits and may very well be vital to our survival as a species. Lose yourself in these pages, expand your time horizons, and reimagine your relationship to time, to the future--Rob Hopkins, founder of the Transition Town movement and author of From What Is to What If
The individualistic philosophies of the last century have generated huge concentrations of wealth--but at the same time put us on the road to social, political, and environmental collapse. This clear-sighted and inspiring book suggests a different view of who humans are and what they really value--and a number of ways off that lethal road. It's a must-read for anyone who's looking for the good news.-- "musician and composer Brian Eno"
Product details
Publisher : Experiment (3 November 2020)
Language : English
Hardcover : 336 pages
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 312 ratings
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Follow
Roman Krznaric
Roman Krznaric is a public philosopher who writes about the power of ideas to change society. His internationally bestselling books, including The Good Ancestor, Empathy, The Wonderbox and Carpe Diem Regained, have been published in more than 20 languages.
After growing up in Sydney and Hong Kong, Roman studied at the universities of Oxford, London and Essex, where he gained his PhD in political sociology. He went on to found the world’s first Empathy Museum and is currently a research fellow of the Long Now Foundation and a member of the Club of Rome. His writings have been widely influential amongst political and ecological campaigners, education reformers, social entrepreneurs and designers.
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Review
The Good Ancestor by Roman Krznaric – review
This article is more than 3 years old
A philosopher’s contribution to saving the world is welcome but requires a huge leap of faith
Andrew Anthony
Andrew Anthony
Sun 26 Jul 2020 18.00 AEST
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There is much talk these days about decolonising – statues, buildings, curricula. All of that has to do with legacies of the past, but there is also a growing discussion among environmentalists about decolonising the future.
The idea is that colonised people are those who are denied representation and, as future generations have no say in the decisions taken today that will later affect them, they are effectively colonised by our present actions.
Roman Krznaric, a pop philosopher in the Alain de Botton mould, explores this predicament in his new book The Good Ancestor. Clearly, people who are not yet born cannot vote in current elections, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t be taken into account. Krznaric makes a convincing case that in our digital age of “pathological short-termism” we are giving less and less consideration to our descendants.
The subtitle of Krznaric’s book is How to Think Long Term in a Short-term World, and it is an argument for shifting our perspective from one of instant gratification to what he calls “deep-time humility” – the recognition that we are “an eye blink in cosmic time”. It is not a new concept by any means, and much of the ground he covers is almost wearily familiar.
The algorithm-fuelled acceleration of consumer culture and the shortening of the attention span, the political preoccupation on next week rather than the next century or the one after, the quick returns of boom-bust speculative capitalism, and the endless pursuit of economic growth are all identified as key drivers of short-termism.
How do we achieve sustainability? Krznaric is scathing of the Enlightenment view that science will find a way
It is hard to argue against any of that, and Krznaric doesn’t try. For him, it is a straightforward case of a terminally degraded capitalist culture living beyond its means and largely indifferent to the despoliation we’re leaving to those who come after us. As a consequence, it makes for a rather uncomplicated polemic that, ironically, is well suited to the polarised and simplified discourse that the digital world has helped to foster.
There is more than a whiff of the Ted Talk homily to much of Krznaric’s prose and plenty of new buzzwords with which to decorate dinner party debates. “Time rebel” refers to those activists who are seeking “intergenerational justice”. “Legacy mindset” describes the wish to be remembered by posterity and “cathedral thinking” applies to the projects whose the lifespans extend beyond a human lifetime.
The most important phrase of all forms the title – “good ancestor”. If we, as a species, are to survive the coming threats to our existence (he cites Toby Ord’s estimate that we have a one-in-six chance of becoming extinct in the next century), we urgently need to think about what we bequeath not just to our children but our grandchildren’s grandchildren and beyond.
Krznaric is very good at identifying the problem. He speaks of Earth Overshoot Day, the point in the annual calendar at which we exceed the planet’s biocapacity – when the use of natural resources outstrips their regeneration. Currently, he says, we reach that mark on 29 July (this year, as a result of coronavirus economic contraction, it’s been calculated as 20 August), when it should be 31 December.
Central to being a good ancestor, therefore, is achieving sustainability. How do we do this? Krznaric is scathing of the view that science will find a way. It’s the same old Enlightenment conception of progress, he argues, that has justified environmental destruction and led to the climate change crisis. He names Steven Pinker as the champion of wishful scientific thinking. “He is like a child who believes they can keep blowing up the balloon, bigger and bigger, without any prospect that it could ever burst.”
The Triumph of Death by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1562.
Why we need worst-case thinking to prevent pandemics
Read more
The alternative Krznaric suggests is “doughnut economics”, as put forward by his wife, the economist Kate Raworth. This entails a rebalancing between social wealth and ecological protection wherein “we meet the needs of current and future generations within the means of Earth’s crucial life-supporting systems”.
Again, it is hard to argue against the ambition but that blameless sentence conceals a monumental amount of political and social restructuring of the kind that has seldom run smoothly in history. The weakness of the book is that the solutions Krznaric puts forward are so far removed from the world as it currently operates that it is impossible to know if they are utopian dreams or workable answers.
Its presiding strength is that it squarely addresses the fact that we can’t continue in this fashion. Exactly how we break out of our solipsistic time bubble and develop a productive appreciation of our responsibility to future generations is an imperative matter for discussion. The Good Ancestor is a welcome place to start it.
The Good Ancestor: How to Think Long-term in a Short-term World by Roman Krznaric is published by WH Allen (£20). To order a copy go to guardianbookshop.com. Free UK p&p over £15
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Catherine
5.0 out of 5 stars tomorrow is todayReviewed in the United States on 17 July 2023
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this book is inspirational. It should be required reading for everyone who wonders where we’re heading by placing the reader front and centre of our present perilous planetary situation. Provides imaginative and realistic processes and pathways. Tell your friends and families to join in the conversations about our legacy as good ancestors.
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pilar cruz
5.0 out of 5 stars Muy interesanteReviewed in Spain on 7 August 2023
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Lo recomiendo
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David Renteria
3.0 out of 5 stars Llegó sucio y ligeramente maltratadoReviewed in Mexico on 1 March 2021
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El libro llegó sin film plástico, lo cual me parece algo bueno para evitar generar más basura y espero que siga así. Lamentablemente el libro llegó manchado y con las orillas ligeramente aplastadas. Sería bueno tener los libros en alguna bodega más limpia para que aún sin plástico se mantengan en buenas condiciones.
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Translate review to English
Luiz Lizardo
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book!Reviewed in Canada on 15 December 2020
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Great perspective on long term thinking perspective, it really makes us reflect on what we are doing now and what we want to leave for future generations. Love it!
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Shreerang
5.0 out of 5 stars great thoughts ...Reviewed in India on 23 April 2021
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not yet completed reading..... but enjoying certain wonderful thoughts. contains several now-a-days' examples and stories. A must for those who love to have home library.
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Justo Martiañez
453 reviews
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July 13, 2022
4/5 Estrellas
Well, after reading this book, I don't know whether to marvel at the number of grandiloquent concepts and words that are being developed to make humanity aware that it is time to think about the future and put aside our short-term and consumerist mentality: that if "time profound", "legacy mentality", "intergenerational justice", "cathedral thinking", "holistic prediction" or "transcendental legacy", or get upset when I think of my fellow citizens who voted en masse for a lady who presented them with a sheet of white as an electoral program, in exchange for a plate of "freedom", consisting of the freedom to be able to have a beer without a mask, and what they have actually done is give carte blanche for the dismantling of the public health system, education public and ultimately hinder the social elevator that is the key to an egalitarian society. And it bothers me even more when I see the government of Spain and the European Union paying other poorer countries to kill immigrants before they reach our beautiful beaches and bother us, or when I see half of Americans supporting a lunatic exalted and denialist, half of Brazilians supporting a violent madman who is rapidly destroying the lungs of the Earth, a country like Russia, with a madman in command, undertaking military campaigns like a revived Tsar and threatening the rest of the world with throwing atomic bombs at them if they protest....shall I continue?.....How can we fight this with good words and such wonderful theories?
Honestly, I am very pessimistic, I don't have much faith in the human race. The book is very good, it explains all this, how to address a change of course that ensures a future for our descendants, it is not apocalyptic and it considers all the options and consequences of following one course or another.....however I don't think that Let us be prepared to address these changes, at least not now.
4 stars for the courage to expose what there is, where we are, where we are going, the consequences of not changing course and the tools to do so......although I suppose we will continue forward without doing anything..... Hey, almost 50 degrees in Extremadura this week, it doesn't seem very normal, right? Will we ever do something or will we continue drinking beers?
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Fin Moorhouse
75 reviews
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January 6, 2021
Nicely eclectic but a little dewy-eyed for my taste. Also strangely pessimistic about human ingenuity for a book about longtermism: lots of emphasis on degrowth, resource depletion, and all-round belt-tightening and sobriety. There is such a thing as too much progress apparently!
Talk of new technology is surprisingly thin too, and near-zero interest in weirder ideas like space colonisation or transhumanism. Also, possibly misleading to describe the Limits to Growth report as prophetic and fail to mention anything it got wrong.
On the other hand: so many delightful examples of longtermist projects in art and politics, and some lovely new metaphors and framings for ideas in sore need of them. And very glad to have learned about Joseph Bazalgette — what a legend!
2021
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Hope P
9 reviews
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August 17, 2020
Fantastic book, I feel like I've learned a lot about history but also how we can think more long-term and try to tackle climate change. Books like these help me to feel more optimistic about the future, and how philosophical tools can help us picture a better one.
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Sue
190 reviews
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December 25, 2020
This is a wonderful companion book to Kate Raworth's Doughnut Economics, and I was delighted to find out that she and Roman Krznaric are married!
Both books are accessible, engaging, and prescriptive.
Raworth and Krznaric show us how and where we've gone wrong in our politics, economics, and cultures in the past, and how those mistakes created the many crises we now face. Most importantly, they offer detailed and inspiring solutions to the problems we face, and lay out a road map for creating global communities and economies that work in service to life and health, provide value for what we value, allow everyone to thrive on a healthy planet, and strive to leave a robust, regenerative, and sustainable Earth for generations to come.
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Stephen Tummon
9 reviews
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November 26, 2020
Should be mandatory reading
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Philip
92 reviews
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June 25, 2022
I first came across the Long Now Foundation a little over 10 years ago when I was getting familiar with the works of Brian Eno and Neal Stephenson. I remember thinking that it sounded like a neat little idea for a foundation/movement, but was disappointed to find that their output was little more than the occasional seminar. Now Roman Krznaric, a Research Fellow of the Long Now Foundation, has written something that could be described as a manifesto for the cause.
The idea of long-term thinking is a very simple one, and Kraznaric does a good job of selling it. The earlier chapters are as compelling and thought-provoking as their titles suggest ("deep-time humility", "cathedral thinking"). In later chapters he tries to show examples of how to "apply" this thinking to the real world, and this is where it feels like he is on shakier ground. For example, his arguments that citizens' assemblies or devolution were good avenues for long-term thinking lacked any serious, concrete data to back them up. He praised certain countries and cities for their relative long-termism - I would have liked to see Krznaric explore what led them to adopt long-term policies: was it a particular political philosophy, economic circumstances, lessons learned from past crises, or simply listening to "Music for Airports" a lot?
I also wondered if he was perhaps, slightly ironically, constrained in his thinking by the time and culture in which he wrote the book. I felt like his writing was very coloured by his political leanings: it wasn't that I necessarily disagreed with him (I expect we agree on a lot), but maybe I was just hoping a book on long-term thinking might transcend all that. He spent a lot of time talking about the climate crisis - fair enough: it's an incredibly important topic where long-term thinking is essential. But there were large parts of the book where it felt like Krznaric had shifted the subject from long-term thinking to environmental sustainability, which feels like a slightly different topic. There were some huge problems that could have been addressed, like our current attitudes to retirement and pensions, or our obsession with extending our life expectancy ever-higher, where some long-term thinking might give a radical new perspective.
Overall, I'm glad I read the book. It's an important and engaging topic. I did not agree with everything Krznaric said, and from the looks of it many other people on Goodreads feel the same way. But if Krznaric is reading through these reviews, I can imagine him smiling. After all, he wanted this book to encourage long-term thinking, not long-term dogmatism! In that sense, the book is a success, and one I will gladly recommend to others.
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Teo
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October 13, 2020
2020.10.06–2020.10.12
Wim
310 reviews
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December 7, 2020
Wonderful inspiring book on how we can counter the short-term tendencies in our society and become time rebels by adopting various innovative principles and put them into practice through collective action.
This book is probably for readers who are already convinced of the need for a radical rupture away from our current destructive consumer culture towards a thriving humanity in balance with the earth, and it focuses on how to achieve this by bringing more long term perspectives into our politics, economies and societies as a whole.
decolonization
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Wallis Greenslade
29 reviews
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January 30, 2021
An absolute must read - an essential framework for thinking beyond the human lifetime time scale towards a just and equitable future for all
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Haden Botkin
6 reviews
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March 15, 2024
It's perhaps a cliché to say that this should be required reading, but I stand by it. Our efforts to confront the climate crisis are incumbent upon collective liberation from short-term thinking. Krznaric provides a roadmap for adopting long-term perspectives with ideals such as intergenerational justice and paradigms such as deep time to guide practice (I particularly recommend the sections on cathedral thinking and deep democracy). I especially appreciated the numerous case studies peppered throughout (social movements, public policy, scientific endeavors, cultural projects) of how humanity has engaged in processes of long-term thinking, reflecting our inherent ability to do so, even amid persisting short-term thinking tendencies.
Additionally, although this is not explicitly labeled as a "leadership" book, I read it as a cogent call for collective leadership. Krznaric makes the point several times that the vested interests of politicians and the global elite (including their—and our—commitments to capitalism and neoliberalism) will likely prove to be a pressing barrier to change. "The priority", Kznaric stresses, "must be what we can do together" (p. 243). Gooooood stuff.
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Reviewed: The Good Ancestor by Roman Krznaric
How to think long-term in a short-term world
Johann
By
Johann
Friday, March 4th, 2022
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Overview
Roman Krznaric is a public philosopher and in this book he urges us to adopt what he calls ‘cathedral thinking’ as a way to become good ancestors and ensure better lives for the universal strangers of the future.
He believes that good ideas and long-term thinking are the answer to securing the future and solving many of the problems that are a result of our short-termism.
Roman Krznaric’s theory is that our almost pathological adherence to a short-term frame of mind and a slavish adherence to ‘the now’ means that we have colonised the future. We consume, spend, and propagate with no regard for future consequences, as though no one will inhabit the future. And future generations have no voice with which to protest our actions.
By only thinking of our immediate needs and not considering the impact our actions have on future generations, we have taken our species to a near precipice of disaster. This includes the impact on our environment, our character, our health, our work ethic and overall productivity. Taking stock of the legacy we will leave for our children, and for future generations, should galvanise us to long-term vision and action.
He gives us 6 ways to think long as an antidote to this problem
Deep-Time Humility – humankind’s existence is barely a blink in the vast timescale of the cosmos.
Legacy Mindset – adopting a mindset that focuses on future generations is our hope of being seen as good ancestors.
Intergenerational Justice – shifting our mindset to morality responsibility rather than just legacy.
Cathedral thinking – planning project beyond our lifetime
Holistic Forecasting – considering multiple options for the future of civilization
Transcendent Goal – striving for one-planet thriving.
Though not everyone might agree with Krznaric’s arguments and theories, he does a great job creating memorable insights which are inspiring. His writing is accessible, and he leaves plenty of room for for us to come up with our own future visions and ways to address short-termism.
Why you should read it
When I started reading his book, I was reminded of a family visit to Barcelona a few years back. Two of my grandchildren were with us when we toured La Sagrada Familia. Both my son and I stood agog at the depth and breadth of Antoni Gaudi’s vision.
He designed a basilica that he knew would only be completed centuries later. Various generations would need to be involved in the project without ever seeing it finished. It’s hard for us ‘modern’ folks to imagine creating a plan that most certainly won’t be realised in our lifetime – nevermind generations beyond.
At Reset, we encourage retirees to have a long-term view of their time in retirement because it helps us develop our purpose and mission, which in turn keeps us engaged and motivated. With this book, the call to action is even stronger and the possibilities even broader. Just imagine being part of an intergenerational plan like the Future Library Project or La Sagrada Familia. It changes a person’s perspective – and that’s why we think this book is so relevant to Reset.
