The Good Ancestor
How to Think Long Term in a Short Term World
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The Good Ancestor
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Narrated by:
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Joe Jameson
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By:
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Roman Krznaric
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
'This is the book our children's children will thank us for reading' – The Edge, U2
How can we be good ancestors?
From the first seeds sown thousands of years ago, to the construction of the cities we still inhabit, to the scientific discoveries that have ensured our survival, we are the inheritors of countless gifts from the past. Today, in an age driven by the tyranny of the now, with 24/7 news, the latest tweet, and the buy-now button commanding our attention, we rarely stop to consider how our actions will affect future generations. With such frenetic short-termism at the root of contemporary crises, the call for long-term thinking grows every day – but what is it, has it ever worked, and can we even do it?
In The Good Ancestor, leading public philosopher Roman Krznaric argues that there is still hope. From the pyramids to the NHS, humankind has always had the innate ability to plan for posterity and take action that will resonate for decades, centuries, even millennia to come. If we want to become good ancestors, now is the time to recover and enrich this imaginative skill.
The Good Ancestor reveals six profound ways in which we can all learn to think long-term, exploring how we can reawaken oft-neglected but uniquely human talents like ‘cathedral thinking’ that expand our time horizons and sharpen our foresight. Drawing on radical solutions from around the world, Krznaric celebrates the innovators who are reinventing democracy, culture and economics so that we all have the chance to become good ancestors and create a better tomorrow.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2020 Roman Krznaric (P)2020 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about The Good Ancestor
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- timmots
- 01-08-20
An inspiring book for our time
We need this book and the wisdom within to help us become what we need to be to get through the next century.
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- patrick
- 24-08-21
Brilliant book, the best lines of thought
Roman is the partner to Donut Economic's Kate Raworth; hence when you finish this book (which is more philosophical), follow up with Kate's text
Excellent weighting
If this was an American publication there would be more drama involved, it is the accuracy of text that you need to absorb.
Well worth the read
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- Anonymous User
- 18-08-21
To my grandchildren & great grandchildren…
Thank you! I loved this book, listened the whole way through over a couple of days. I had never thought much about my grandchildren or great grandchildren, I have two young boys and am going to much more now, and become a good ancestor as much as I possibly can. We are living through some very troubling times and this has given me hope for their future…
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- Sam Z
- 26-03-22
essential reading (listening)
Philosophy, history, analogy and anthropology all bound together in a narrative of ecology and prophecy. Outstanding book!
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- Christopher Whalen
- 08-11-22
Thought-provoking
This is a thought-provoking book about how to shift our thinking from the short term to the long term - particularly about climate change and intergenerational justice. It's not always optimistic. I wish our politicians and leaders would read it so that they thought beyond the next election. It demonstrates that we have a lot to learn from other cultures and ways of seeing the world. My favourite nugget was the idea that every breath of air we take contains around 15 argon atoms that we breathed a year ago, as well as argon atoms that Cleopatra and Buddha would have breathed. I also like the concept of cathedral thinking: of building something that won't be completed in our lifetime but that future generations will benefit from.
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- keith
- 21-11-20
food for thought
An important perspective in the era of "buy it now", what will an archaeological museum look like in a thousand years, empty shampoo bottles dug up from the past
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- CAMMAN
- 26-08-20
Brilliant and timely.
Loved this and has solidified sone existing thinking and inspired thinking about various areas where I can work on leaving a legacy in small but meaningful ways.
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- Amazon Customer
- 31-12-20
A Hopefull Book
Well written and well read.
I found that this book clearly expressed the broad and expansive topic of 'thinking future' without seeming overwhelming. It taps into a commonality, our ancestors and offers up simple was to think longer by brining up examples like the London sewers- built for twice the capacity of the city at the time.
I am hopeful after reading this book, it is not stating that it is easy to tackle things like climate change, but it highlights a need to change our thinking in order to adapt our future.
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- Ben Arscott
- 10-06-22
Read it now, and again this time next year
Read it again in 2032
Read it again in 2052
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Read it again in 2152
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Read it again in 2532
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- Marbo
- 02-01-23
Brilliant, vital thinking
Give a copy of this book and the sermon on the mount (from the New Testament) to everyone on earth, get them to follow them, and all its problems would be solved.
This has helped me target higher goals and aspirations towards meaningfulness and hope.
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