The Optimist's Telescope: Thinking Ahead in a Reckless Age

By Bina Venkataraman

Categories: Politics & Social Sciences, Science & Math

Journalist Bina Venkataraman, who once advised the Obama White House on preparing for climate change, explores why individuals, businesses and societies so often fail to plan ahead. She challenges the idea that human nature is hopelessly reckless. Drawing on stories she reported on several continents and on research in biology, psychology and economics, with examples from ancient Pompeii to Fukushima, she describes practices people can adopt in their own lives and changes that communities can pursue together.

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• Seth Godin: “Bina Venkataraman has written about this better than I ever could.”