The Good Ancestor

Could economists have foreseen the 2008 crash?

Could political pundits have predicted Brexit or Trump?

Long-term thinking struggles to take root in a world where immediate results are demanded and rewarded. Short-term thinking is endemic across all aspects of life.

In The Long Now, leading popular philosopher and bestselling author Roman Krznaric shows just how crucial long-term thinking is, not just for ordinary people but across political, economic, environmental and business worlds.

From the personal to the political, Krznaric identifies the flaws of today's short-term mindset. Drawing on ideas from a wide range of perspectives including neuroscience, cultural history, politics, economics, art and religion, he offers eight key approaches as a roadmap for the future of long-term thinking and planning.

Unless we change our habits today our quick-fix, short-term culture can threaten societies in the long run.

How timely can a book be? Roman Krznaric fizzes with ideas about how we tackle that cuckoo in the nest, short-term thinking. We need to think today for tomorrow, to give future generations their rightful seat at the table Lord John Bird MBE, founder of The Big Issue An important and fascinating book that asks whether we've got what it takes to become citizens rather than consumers and create an ecological civilisation. The Good Ancestor is a triumph Sir Tim Smit, co-founder of the Eden Project 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 Beautiful to read, heartfelt and persuasive The Good Ancestor is one of those landmark books with the power to shift a mindset. One turns the pages feeling a growing compulsion for change. Krznaric's clarion call for long-term thinking makes him an ancestor all future generations can be proud of Isabella Tree, author of Wilding 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

Roman Krznaric is a social philosopher whose books, including Empathy, The Wonderbox and How to Find Fulfilling Work, have been published in more than twenty languages. He is the founder of the world's first Empathy Museum and of the digital Empathy Library. He is also a founding faculty member of The School of Life and on the faculty of Year Here.

Roman has been named by the Observer as one of Britain's leading popular philosophers. His writings have been widely influential amongst political and ecological campaigners, education reformers, social entrepreneurs and designers. He is an acclaimed public speaker, and his talks and workshops have taken him from a London prison to Google's headquarters in California.

After growing up in Sydney and Hong Kong, he studied at the universities of Oxford, London and Essex, where he gained his PhD in political sociology. Roman has worked as an academic, a gardener and a human rights campaigner. He is also a fanatical real tennis player and has a passion for making furniture.

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