I read Roman Krznaric’s The Good Ancestor: A Radical Prescription for Long-term Thinking in an apocalyptic mood, while California was burning and the coronavirus was cresting nationwide. The Oxford philosopher Krznaric says these two disasters were caused by our addiction to short-term thinking.
While rushing to buy up its own shares and boost their bottom line, PG&E failed to do the long-haul work of inspecting and maintaining its wires. And so, in 2018, a spark from a single fuse box destroyed the town of Paradise. Ever since we have lived with rolling blackouts every fire season.
In 2018, the US government also disbanded the National Security Council’s pandemic unit, getting rid of people who might have helped us stop the spread of COVID-19.
The catastrophic impacts of this virus are a stark reminder, Krznaric argues, “that we should be thinking, planning and budgeting for multiple risks that lie on the horizon—not only the threat of further pandemics, but the climate crisis and unchecked technological developments.”
According to Krznaric, short-term thinking is killing us, bit by bit. Our political goals are hampered by a short election cycle, our news is limited to the latest opinion poll or tweet, our businesses are seeking quick returns on investment, and our financial markets crash in speculative bubbles. On the personal level, we’re sunk, too. We “overdose on fast food, rapid-fire texting,” and are constantly seduced by the “Buy Now” button that ratchets up our annual debt.
Just as worrisome is our rapid embrace of scientific innovation. Risk scholar Nick Bostrom describes this scenario where a new delivery system for anti-cancer drugs turns into a global threat. “Terrorists might get hold of self-replicating, bacterium-scale nanobots that get out of control and poison the atmosphere.”
In fact, many risk experts believe “there is around a one-in-six chance that humanity will not make it to the end of the century without catastrophic loss of life.”
That’s the bad news—and there’s plenty of it. But, thankfully, Krznaric has a way to change the outcome.
THanks, Mac. Enjoyed our extended conversation on your podcast—and listening to your other guests! You know how to put people at ease and offer so much of your own life and wisdom in the dialogue.
Hi, Valerie.
You done it again, young lady.
Wonderful.
Be.
Mac