Roman Krznaric, philosopher and author of the book "The Good Ancestor: A Radical Prescription for Long Term Thinking," says that there are two parts of the human brain that are driving our decisions and ultimately determining what kind of legacy we leave behind for future generations.

Short-term thinking happens in the marshmallow brain (named after the famous Stanford marshmallow test), while long-term thinking and strategizing occurs in the acorn brain. By retraining ourselves to use the acorn brain more often, we can ensure that trillions of people—including our grandchildren and their grandchildren—aren't inheriting a depleted world and the worst traits that humankind has to offer.

"At the moment we're using on average 1.6 planet earths each year in terms of our ecological footprint," says Krznaric, but that doesn't mean that it's too late to turn things around. Thinking long term about things like politics and education can help "rebuild our imaginations of what a civilization could be."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ROMAN KRZNARIC:

Roman Krznaric is a public philosopher who writes about the power of ideas to change society. His latest book is The Good Ancestor: A Radical Prescription for Long-Term Thinking. His previous books, including 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 is founder of the world’s first Empathy Museum and is currently a Research Fellow of the Long Now Foundation.

Check Roman Krznaric's latest book "The Good Ancestor: A Radical Prescription for Long-Term Thinking" at https://amzn.to/3fGPwnF

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices