The Optimist's Telescope

As someone who hoarded toilet paper weeks before the 2020 shortage, I relate to the frustration of watching history repeat itself (or at least rhyme with itself) because people are often too distracted to focus on planning for looming crises.

Bina Venkataraman gets to the “why” of this often-fatal flaw as she explores the nature of human decision-making. This book provides tangible narratives as a springboard to answer these questions: How can we use wisdom from our ancestors to better inform our personal, professional, and policy decisions? How can we incentivize (or glitter bomb) long-term planning? And how can we… show more.

This excellent book by Bina Venkataraman builds directly on research into the psychology of foresight and then masterfully integrates that research with everyday personal concerns and broader societal issues. Venkataraman ranges from individual choices to the decisions made by corporations and governments, providing detailed and often riveting examples along the way to show us how we can all think ahead better. Many insights from the book resonated with me. For instance, Venkataraman shows that while it might sometimes feel like humans are doomed to short-termism, she argues we can, in fact, choose to harness our ability to think about the… show more.