Activating the acorn brain

One of the most inspiring books I read in 2020 was ‘The Good Ancestor’ of Roman Krznaric. In his book Krznaric asks and answers the question ‘How to think long term in a short-term world?’. It's a relevent question, as many people are busy with the here and now. Our future depends on it.

Many people are busy with the ‘here and now’, achieving the quarterly results, keeping up a good public profile, preparing for the next election, busy with coming to terms with their very personal feelings and purpose, and have lost sight of the future.

The acorn brain

What we seem to have forgotten is that humans have the evolutionary gift of thinking over lifespans, that has helped us to survive. Through hunting and gathering we developed time specific cognitive maps, tool technology helped to plan complex sequenced processes, and through growing up in multi generational providing trust, reciprocity and empathy we created bonds that persisted through time. You can still find this back in architecture, urban planning, engineering, arts but also health care and our education system: Cathedrals would not have been built if architects would not have imagined how future people would continue to enjoy its sight.

As humans are lucky to be born with ‘acorn’ brains: the ability to imagine the future as it were today. This acorn brain prompts for thinking long term, brings us the understanding to save something for later, and allows to save some acorns to grow oaks for our childrens children. The acorn brain is a very new adaptiation in the animal kingdom. Frankly speaking, we are not very good in it.

How can we activate our acorn brain?

2020 was marked by the COVID19 pandemic, health care, nutrition and equality crisis. With immense capacity, doctors, nurses, pharmaceutics, politicians and citizens are doing what is needed and in their capacity to take care of the ill and soften the losses. The pandemic has further highlighted the inequalities that exist, and has often worsening the situation of the less privilaged even further. Conspirancy theories about the origins of pandemics or vaccins spread like bush fire across social media, bleakening the nuanced voice of science.

How can we activate the acorn brain in the midst of this turmoil? How to counterweight the short termism and train our thinking about the desired future state? Intergovernmental and civil society groups want to 'build back better', and use this years momentum for a positive 'reset'. How can we bring the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and 2050 Net Zero goals come alive and plot the pathways to get there in the coming decade?

How to build in long-term thinking design into political groups, legal frameworks and economic organisations?

Six ways to think long term

Krznaric comes up with 6 ways to integrate long term thinking

1)     Deep-Time Humility: understand we are an eyeblink in cosmic time

2)     Legacy Mindset: be remembered well by posterity

3)     Intergenerational Justice: consider the 7th generation ahead

4)     Cathedral Thinking: plan projects beyond a human lifetime

5)     Holistic Forecasting: envision multiple pathways for civilisation

6)     Transcendent Goals: strive for one-planet thriving

A good example of 'Intergenerational Justice’ can be found amongst the Native American ‘Seventh Generation’ thinking (Oren Lyons, Native American Chief): ‘We need to make sure that every decision we make relates to the welfare and well-being of the seventh generation to come’. The same group has a deep understanding of the place (not so much the time) that should be central to our dedication: We should fully adapt and preserve the ecosystem in which we live, the rivers, the soil, the grees, the pollinators, the air we breathe:

‘If we want to survive and thrive

for thousands of generations:

don’t foul the nest’.

Time rebels leading the way

It is noted that today’s institutions have been designed for challenges of previous eras and do not sufficiently take needs of the future generations into account. Fortunately there are a number of time rebels who raise their voice and propose provocative goals, including new forms of governance, urban planning, agriculture.

Of interest to mention here is ‘Future Design’, developed by Professor Sakura Osamu of Kochi University of Technology, himself inspired by the 7th generation-thinking of native Americans. Osamu acknowledges the conflict of interest of different generations: important societal issues like climate change, social security and health care are unlikely to be solved by the present generation. ‘Humans need to get past their natural short-sightedness, with mechanisms and systems to compensate fort his deficiency and make the voices of future generations heard'. In this spirit, communities in Japan have started experimenting in the past years with councils that consists of ‘todays representatives’ and ‘2060 resident representatives’. The result?

People who place themselves in the shoes of future generations tend to vote for more radical reforms to for the benefit of climate, livelihoods and public health care.

Image that Future Design is adopted by towns and cities worldwide to revitalize democratic decision making and extend their vision into future generations? What if companies envisage the lasting effects of their activities in the communities in which they are active, by imagining, reasoning and projecting the social and environmental impact in the long run?

Onwards and upwards!

Long-term thinking is needed to make and keep the world a great place to live for us and generations to come. To achieve the 17 ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ by 2030 we need intermediate milestones to be designed with future generations in mind. Only in 2021 there are several international conferences being prepared, of which the Climate COP26, Convention of Biodiversity, UN Food Systems Summit and the Nutrition for Growth Summit (N4G). The science can not be more clear: we will have to redesign mobility, energy, food systems, health care and distribute wealth more evenly.

It is now up to governments, but also the private sector, civil society and academics to develop measurable and practical goals to feed the world population, protect nature and halt climate change. Let’s make sure the voice of the future generations is heard!

Wishing you an inspiring 2021 in good health, full of joy and wisdom!

Sources:

Roman Krzanic (2020), The Good Ancester How to think long term in a short-term world

SAKURA Osamu, SAIJO Tatsuyoshi (2019) Future Design - Japan Foreign Policy Forum

Roman Krznaric (2020): How to be a good ancestor TED Talk