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Long-Term Thinking For A Short-Sighted World explains why we rarely think about the long-term consequences of our actions, how this puts our entire species in danger and what we can do to change and ensure a thriving future for mankind.
Long-Term Thinking For A Short-Sighted World explains why we rarely think about the long-term consequences of our actions, how this puts our entire species in danger and what we can do to change and ensure a thriving future for mankind.
Humans suck at understanding time. Even the world’s greatest scientists struggle with it. Especially large periods of time we can barely comprehend.
For example, you might think you have a good feel for how big the difference between a million and a billion is, which is a factor of 1,000. But I bet you’ll be surprised to hear that 1,000,000 seconds ago is 12 days ago and 1,000,000,000 seconds ago is 30 years ago. Shocking, right?
And those are still common numbers. Anything beyond 80 years we can’t really understand. Imagine how hard it is to deal with deep time (also called geologic time), which covers billion year periods and more. Good thing we only have to think about the next 24 hours. Or is it?
Since we live our modern lives in 5, 10, 25 minute intervals, we’re used to having to make snap decisions and providing immediate results. Not only do we make worse decisions because of this, it also leads us to expect the same thing from the world. That’s why we chase 3-step solutions, 12-week diets and 7-minute exercise programs and are discouraged when things don’t work out immediately.
Cars were instantly popular when they came out some 120 years ago. They resembled the freedom to go where you go when you wanted to go there and came with the status of being able to afford this freedom. However, their environmental impact has been devastating, because nobody thought of the long-term consequences.
So today, we face CO2 emission regulations, which car manufacturers scramble to meet, have only one company who nails electric cars and some cities have to raffle away car licenses due to pollution. Half the cars of the world drive in the US alone and its arable land has been plastered with roads, parking lots and cities that are built around driving. Oil isn’t the best fuel either and car accidents have killed more people than all wars the US participated in combined.
But the worst part may be the reason for a lot of these needless deaths: road rage. When we’re alone in our car, we’re disconnected from the world and other humans. It’s easy to lose our temper, act out and curse at everything and everyone when we’re in our own little, metal bubble.
Factoring all of this into the equation, cars just might take the top spot in terms of stupid decisions that ruin our planet.
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Get the complete summary in the appOur modern lives are centered around the clock and this reinforces short-term behavior.
The rise of cars was actually a short-term move, and its consequences are severe.
Buy locally and spend your money where you are to support your community long-term.
"Long-Term Thinking For A Short-Sighted World" is a strong fit if you want practical ideas around culture, environment, history—especially themes like our modern lives are centered around the clock and this reinforces short-term behavior; the rise of cars was actually a short-term move, and its consequences are severe. The MinuteRead summary distills these concepts into a focused read, whether you're deciding whether to buy the book or applying its lessons at work.
Motivated to help readers with long-Term Thinking For A Short-Sighted World explains why we rarely think about the long-term consequences of, the clock leads to bad decisions, how cars ruin earth & why to buy locally wrote “Long-Term Thinking For A Short-Sighted World” to package those ideas for a fast, focused read. In “Long-Term Thinking For A Short-Sighted World”, the clock leads to bad decisions, how cars ruin earth & why to buy locally focuses on long-Term Thinking For A Short-Sighted World…
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