Roman Krznaric | |
---|---|
Born | |
Notable work | The Good Ancestor, Empathy, The Wonderbox, Carpe Diem Regained, and How to Find Fulfilling Work |
Spouse | Kate Raworth |
Children | 2 |
Relatives | Sophie Raworth (sister in law) |
Website | romankrznaric |
Roman Krznaric is an Australian-born social philosopher, [1] whose books focus on the power of ideas to create change. [2] His international bestsellers, including The Good Ancestor and Empathy, have been published in more than 25 languages. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing at Linacre College, University of Oxford and the founder of the world's first Empathy Museum. His latest book, History for Tomorrow: Inspiration from the Past for the Future of Humanity, explores what we can learn from the last 1000 years of global history to tackle urgent issues ranging from the climate crisis to the risks of artificial intelligence.
Krznaric is also a Research Fellow of the Long Now Foundation and member of the Club of Rome. Particularly known for his interdisciplinary work on empathy and long-term thinking, his writings have been widely influential amongst political and ecological campaigners, education reformers, social entrepreneurs and designers. [3] He was named by The Observer as one of Britain's leading popular philosophers. [4]
Krznaric was born in Sydney, Australia, and attended secondary school in Hong Kong. After studying philosophy, politics and economics at Pembroke College, Oxford University, he completed a master's degree in Latin American politics at the Institute of Latin American Studies at the University of London, then a PhD in the Department of Government at the University of Essex. His doctoral thesis explored the political, social and economic thought of Guatemala's oligarchy. [5]
Krznaric did human rights work with indigenous refugees in Guatemala, then taught politics and sociology at Essex University, the University of Cambridge and City University, London. After leaving academia, he was project director at The Oxford Muse, a cultural organisation established by the historian Theodore Zeldin to create conversations across social divides. Krznaric and Zeldin co-edited two books, Guide to an Unknown City (2003) and Guide to an Unknown University (2006).
In 2008, he was one of the founding faculty members of The School of Life in London, where he designed and taught courses on work, politics and love until 2012. Since then he has dedicated himself full-time to writing. [6] [7]
In History for Tomorrow: Inspiration from the Past for the Future of Humanity, Krznaric delves into the last 1000 years of world history and asks what inspiration it offers for tackling ten urgent problems facing humanity in the 21st century, including climate change, hyperconsumerism, inequality, democracy and risks from AI and genetic engineering. While his last book, The Good Ancestor, explores humankind's relationship with the future, the new book looks at our relationship with the past. Rather than simply highlighting warnings from history, Krznaric searches for positive examples of what went right alongside cautionary tales of what went wrong. The book reveals how, time and again, societies have risen up, often against the odds, to tackle challenges and overcome crises. The science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson has described the book as 'an amazing feat of synthesis and imagination'. [8]
Like his book Empathy, Krznaric's The Good Ancestor: How to Think Long Term in a Short-Term World, takes a key contemporary idea – in this case long-term thinking – and unpacks its intellectual history, conceptual underpinnings and practical applications. Krznaric argues that humankind, especially in the wealthy countries of the Global North, has 'colonised the future', treating it as a place where we dump ecological degradation and technological risk. The book reveals six ways we can become better long-term thinkers to help tackle issues ranging from the climate crisis and the risks of artificial intelligence to planning for the next pandemic on the horizon and confronting racial injustice that gets passed on from generation to generation. The book has had widespread public impact, including being the basis for legal rulings on intergenerational rights and climate justice. Its core ideas have also been explored in Krznaric's TED talk, [9] and in the documentary Time Rebels, [10] made for Dutch public television.
In Carpe Diem Regained: The Vanishing Art of Seizing the Day, Krznaric reveals how the ancient ideal carpe diem, originally popularised by the Roman poet Horace, has been hijacked today by forces such as consumer culture, social media and the mindfulness industry. Krznaric has described the book as an attempt to rewrite existentialism for the twenty-first century. [11] [12] Krznaric emphasises how an apparently individualistic ideal such as seizing the day also has a collective potential to become a force for socio-political transformation, suggesting that tackling issues such as the global ecological crisis requires a ‘carpamus diem’ (‘let’s seize the day together’) mentality.
Krznaric's book Empathy: Why It Matters and How to Get It (originally titled Empathy: A Handbook for Revolution), takes the long-established psychological concept of empathy and reveals how it can be a force for social and political transformation, drawing on examples ranging from the rise of the movement against slavery and the slave trade in Britain in the late eighteenth century to contemporary grass-roots peace building projects in the Middle East. [13]
In the book, Krznaric draws a distinction between affective empathy (empathy as a shared emotional response) and cognitive empathy (empathy as the capacity to step into the shoes of others and understand their worldview), arguing that the latter has a particularly important role to play in social change. This theme was explored in his RSA Animate video, The Power of Outrospection. [14]
The book inspired Krznaric's creation of the Empathy Museum, an international arts organisation, and the digital Empathy Library. Krznaric is widely recognised as one of the world's leading thinkers about empathy.
Krznaric's book How to Find Fulfilling Work extols the virtues of being a “wide achiever” rather than a “high achiever,” arguing that becoming a generalist is a key skill for navigating today's uncertain and insecure workplace. [15]
The Wonderbox: Curious Histories of How to Live (published in the US as How Should We Live?) explores what history can teach us about tackling the challenges of personal life: What can we learn about love from the Ancient Greeks? What might the Renaissance teach us about confronting death? How has our approach to work, time and consumerism transformed since the industrial revolution? [16] The book was inspired by Goethe's dictum, 'He who cannot draw on three thousand years is living from hand to mouth'.
In addition to academic articles on democratic governance and Latin American politics, Krznaric is the author of the Oxfam report How Change Happens: Interdisciplinary Perspectives for Human Development (2007) [17] as well as reports on empathy and development issues for Friends of the Earth and the United Nations Development Programme. [18]
He is also the author of The First Beautiful Game: Stories of Obsession in Real Tennis, a book that uses a combination of oral history and personal memoir to explore the medieval sport of real tennis. Krznaric is one of the world's top amateur players of the sport. [19]
Krznaric is married to the British economist Kate Raworth, author of Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist. They have boy-girl twins and live in the UK. He is a top ranked amateur player of real tennis. [20]
Sherry Turkle is an American sociologist. She is the Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She obtained a BA in social studies and later a PhD in sociology and personality psychology at Harvard University. She now focuses her research on psychoanalysis and human-technology interaction. She has written several books focusing on the psychology of human relationships with technology, especially in the realm of how people relate to computational objects. Her memoir 'Empathy Diaries' received excellent critical reviews.
Colin Ward was a British anarchist writer and editor. He has been called "one of the greatest anarchist thinkers of the past half century, and a pioneering social historian."
Ubuntu describes a set of closely related Bantu African-origin value systems that emphasize the interconnectedness of individuals with their surrounding societal and physical worlds. "Ubuntu" is sometimes translated as "I am because we are", or "humanity towards others". In Xhosa, the latter term is used, but is often meant in a more philosophical sense to mean "the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity".
Carpe diem is a Latin aphorism, usually translated "seize the day", taken from book 1 of the Roman poet Horace's work Odes.
The Art of Happiness is a book by the 14th Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler, a psychiatrist who posed questions to the Dalai Lama. Cutler quotes the Dalai Lama at length, providing context and describing some details of the settings in which the interviews took place, as well as adding his own reflections on issues raised.
Riane Tennenhaus Eisler is an Austrian-born American systems scientist, futurist, attorney, and author who writes about the effect of gender and family politics historically on societies, and vice versa. She is best known for her 1987 book, The Chalice and the Blade, in which she coined the terms "partnership" and "dominator".
Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam (1972) is a book by American journalist Frances FitzGerald (1940-) about Vietnam, its history and national character, and the United States warfare there. It was initially published by both Little, Brown and Company and Back Bay Publishing. The book was ranked by critics as one of the top books of the year, it was on the New York Times bestseller list for more than 10 weeks, and it won the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction, the Bancroft Prize for history, the National Book Award and the Hillman Prize. It was published in paperback in 1973 by Vintage Books.
A one-night stand or one-night sex is a single sexual encounter in which there is no expectation that there shall be any further relations between the sexual participants. It draws its name from the common practice of a one-night stand, a single night performance by an entertainer at a venue. The practice can be described as "sexual activity without emotional commitment or future involvement".
Veneer theory is a term coined by Dutch primatologist Frans de Waal to label the Hobbesian view of human morality that he criticizes throughout his work. Although he criticizes this view in earlier works, the term in this form is introduced in his 2005 book Our Inner Ape, denoting a concept that he rejects, namely that human morality is "a cultural overlay, a thin veneer hiding an otherwise selfish and brutish nature". The idea of the veneer theory goes back to Thomas Henry Huxley and has more recently been advocated by biologists like George C. Williams.
Charles Eisenstein is an American public speaker, anti-vaccine activist, teacher and author. His work covers a wide range of topics, including the history of human civilization, economics, spirituality, and the ecology movement. Key themes explored include anti-consumerism, interdependence, and how myth and narrative influence culture. According to Eisenstein, global culture is immersed in a destructive "story of separation", and one of the main goals of his work is to present an alternative "story of interbeing". Much of his work draws on ideas from Eastern philosophy and the spiritual teachings of various indigenous peoples. Eisenstein has been involved in the Occupy, New Economy, and permaculture movements.
A theory of art is intended to contrast with a definition of art. Traditionally, definitions are composed of necessary and sufficient conditions, and a single counterexample overthrows such a definition. Theorizing about art, on the other hand, is analogous to a theory of a natural phenomenon like gravity. In fact, the intent behind a theory of art is to treat art as a natural phenomenon that should be investigated like any other. The question of whether one can speak of a theory of art without employing a concept of art is also discussed below.
The Omoluwabi or Omoluabi is a set of cultural principles that's native to the Yoruba people, embodying the essence of civilized behavior and virtue attribute towards every aspect of life. This timeless philosophy is deeply rooted in Yoruba tradition and serves as a guiding principle for the Yoruba People to strive for excellence in their personal and communal lives. Omoluwabi demonstrates and exhibits the inherent virtue and value of Iwapele which signifies a set of values such as integrity, respect, self-control, humility, humanity, empathy, responsibility, courage, perseverance, knowledge, education and hard work, which collectively define a person of good moral character. As a guiding principle, Omoluwabi has the power to inspire individuals to become active participants in their communities, cultivating a culture of inclusivity, empathy, and collective growth. As we navigate the complexities of modern life, the timeless wisdom of Omoluwabi serves as a beacon, reminding us of the importance of living a life of purpose, integrity, and character.
Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow is a book written by Israeli author Yuval Noah Harari, professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The book was first published in Hebrew in 2015 by Dvir publishing; the English-language version was published in September 2016 in the United Kingdom and in February 2017 in the United States.
The Wonderbox: Curious Histories of How to Live is a 2012 book by Roman Krznaric. It explores aspects of the human psyche, and makes the case for people to empathise more with each other. The book uses broad range of historical examples.
All Tomorrows: A Billion Year Chronicle of the Myriad Species and Mixed Fortunes of Man is a 2006 work of science fiction and speculative evolution written and illustrated by the Turkish artist C. M. Kosemen under the pen name Nemo Ramjet. It explores a hypothetical future path of human evolution set from the near future to a billion years from the present. Several future human species evolve through natural means and through genetic engineering, conducted by both humans themselves and by a mysterious and superior alien species called the Qu.
The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity is a 2021 book by anthropologist and activist David Graeber and archaeologist David Wengrow. It was first published in the United Kingdom on 19 October 2021 by Allen Lane.
Carpe Diem is the fourteenth studio album by Turkish singer Hande Yener. The first part, Carpe Diem Part I, which contains 10 songs in total, was released on 2 October 2020 by Poll Production. Eight of the songs in the album were written and arranged by Berksan and Misha, while one was prepared by Fikri Karayel and Deeperise, and another by Mete Özgencil and Devrim Karaoğlu. Carpe Diem is a pop and electronic album that also has elements of synth-pop, funky house, deep house and R&B. Unlike Yener's previous works, the eight songs prepared by Berksan were first composed and lyrics were later put on them. Yener explained that she named the album based on the philosophy of "living at the moment, knowing the value of the moment" and then a song with the same name was written and included in the tracking list. The album was set to be released in April 2020 but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the release date was postponed. It eventually became available in October 2020.
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Carpe Diem is the twenty-third studio album by English heavy metal band Saxon released in 2022.
What We Owe the Future is a 2022 book by the Scottish philosopher and ethicist William MacAskill, an associate professor in philosophy at the University of Oxford. It advocates for effective altruism and the philosophy of longtermism, which MacAskill defines as "the idea that positively influencing the long-term future is a key moral priority of our time." His argument is based on the premises that future people count, there could be many of them, and we can make their lives better.