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The good ancestor : a radical prescription for long-term thinking

Krznaric, Roman. (Author).

This book is a call to save ourselves and our planet by targeting the root of our inaction: extreme short-sightedness. It outlines six practical ways we can retrain our brains to save our future and create a "time rebellion"-shifting our allegiance from our generation only to all humanity, present and future

Book  - 2020
170 Krz
1 copy / 0 on hold

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  • ISBN: 9781615197309
  • Physical Description xiv, 320 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm
  • Publisher [Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], 2020.

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Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references and index.

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Syndetic Solutions - Summary for ISBN Number 9781615197309
The Good Ancestor : A Radical Prescription for Long-Term Thinking
The Good Ancestor : A Radical Prescription for Long-Term Thinking
by Krznaric, Roman.
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Summary

The Good Ancestor : A Radical Prescription for Long-Term Thinking


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.