Many of the problems we face today, from climate change to work anxiety, are the result of short-term thinking. We are constantly bombarded by notifications and “breaking news” that overwhelm our central nervous systems, forcing us to react in the moment and ultimately disconnecting us from what truly matters. But there is a solution.
Today on The Dhru Purohit Podcast, Dhru talks to Ari Wallach about how we face challenges that require us to think beyond our individual life spans to the impact we have on future generations. They discuss how we can become the ancestors the future needs through an applied mindset Ari calls Longpath that implements shifts in thinking, decision-making, and behavior that move our society and species toward future-consciousness.
Ari Wallach is a futurist and social systems strategist. He is the founder and Executive Director of Longpath Labs, an initiative focused on bringing long-term thinking and coordinated behavior to the individual, organizational, and societal realms in order to ensure humanity flourishes on an ecologically thriving planet Earth for centuries to come.
Ari’s TED Talk on Longpath has been viewed over 2.5 million times and translated into 19 languages. Ari was also the founder and CEO of Synthesis Corp., a New York-based strategic innovation consultancy whose clients included CNN, Volkswagen Global, the UN Refugee Agency, and the US State Department. Ari was the cofounder of the 2008 presidential initiative “The Great Schlep with Sarah Silverman” and most previously hosted Fast Company magazine’s “Fast Company Futures with Ari Wallach.”
He was most recently adjunct associate professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, lecturing on innovation, AI, and the future of governance and public policy.
In this episode, we dive into:
- Why we’re so driven by short-term behavior and thinking (2:05)
- How short-term thinking gets us into trouble (4:10)
- What is driving our short-term thinking (7:27)
- The principles of the Longpath perspective (15:10)
- How the world is getting better, not worse (20:30)
- Why we’re hardwired for negativity bias and how to move past it (30:55)
- Transgenerational empathy (42:19)
- Why it’s important to start with the past when creating change (54:15)
- Dhru’s gratitude practice (1:05:46)
- Steps people can take today to shift their thinking towards a Longpath perspective (1:33:24)
Also mentioned in this episode:
For more on Ari Wallach, follow him on Instagram @ariw, Facebook @ariwallach, Twitter @ariw, and through his website, longpath.org. Get his book, Longpath: Becoming the Great Ancestors Our Future Needs, here.
For more on Dhru Purohit, follow him on Instagram @dhrupurohit, Facebook @dhruxpurohit, Twitter @dhrupurohit, YouTube @dhrupurohit, and TikTok @dhru.purohit. Text Dhru at 302-200-5643 or click here.
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