“It's hard to think of anything more human than this expectant stare into tomorrow. It involves a disturbing paradox. Even if we can't accurately predict the future, we often know how to provoke it. Our idea of tomorrow influences our actions (or lack thereof!), and these in turn determine what will happen. If we all believe that the climate catastrophe is unstoppable, we are indeed facing a Mad Max-like reality. As long as we are convinced that states are incapable of innovation and efficient action, effectively fighting the next epidemics will actually be beyond their capabilities, because we simply won't give them the right tools. Imaginations of the future determine exchange rates and stock prices, lead to unjustified panic, or cause us not to see the imminent danger until the last minute.
The past is important and can teach us a lot. But ultimately our homeland is tomorrow, not yesterday. It is not memory, but leaning toward what is yet to come that makes us human and sets us apart from other species. If we lose hope for a better future, we ourselves will be lost. A man without a future creates a future without a man. A short-sighted focus on quick profit, a nostalgic idealization of the past or a naive fixation on technology are not unbiased observations of reality. They are strategies for action. Self-fulfilling prophecies that already foretell us an inhuman future. This is why we so desperately need wise stories about tomorrow.”
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The best podcast in the world, Raport o stanie świata, by Polish journalism star Dariusz Rosiak, has without a doubt enriched my life. For example, with this remarkable book subtitled "Why we need better stories to save the world". A young (1985) professor Napiórkowski, who as a sociologist and philosopher focuses on contemporary mythology and collective memory, shows in a fascinating way the power of stories. How they have shaped history and how they shape the world today, including its landscape or biodiversity with a force as real and tangible as the currents of the sea or erosion processes.
Christianity and Platonic philosophy, communism and nazism, liberalism and conservatism, mysticism and the methods of modern science - these are all just narratives that people believe and that show us that we must choose our stories carefully. Because our narratives about the future hold the key to that future. They don't just try to predict it more or less accurately. They shape it. That, by the way, is where the humanities, and sociology in particular, are indispensable. It is difficult to identify with cold numbers alone. It is hard not to identify with stories.
As soon as it is translated at least into English, or as soon as you finally dare to read Polish, pick it up immediately. Its bibliography alone will fill your to-read list for months to come.
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“What really makes patients abandon cancer therapies, opting instead for bioenergotherapists, healers or miracle diets? Why are they willing to believe that vaccines are a conspiracy to depopulate our planet? How come otherwise reasonable people are willing to trust the wisdom of the internet rather than someone who has devoted his entire adult life to medicine? The answer lies in the narratives. "Alternative medicine" offers patients simple and engaging explanations. It treats them as unique individuals and seeks to satisfy the human need for care, recognition and, above all, meaning. Meanwhile, the official health care system and evidence-based medicine often appear inhumane. [...]
'Medicine is not an exact science.... is an art'. Scientifically validated methods and data alone are not enough, because patients are human beings, not perfectly rational automatons. They need more than just the removal of cancerous tissue or the supplementation of an iron deficiency. They also need a sense of meaning, control over their own lives, respect, trust or closeness to another human being.”