It seems that almost everything we do is, on some level, an attempt to predict the future. We go to college in the hopes that a degree will land us a better job, for example, and we buy car insurance in case some maniac decides to sideswipe our Honda.
But unfortunately, we don’t have a crystal ball; our powers of prediction are far from perfect. So if we’re trying to gaze into the future, why not consult some of the modern world’s brightest thinkers? If you want to know where the world is headed, we recommend checking out the seven brilliant, farsighted reads below.
Post Corona: From Crisis to Opportunity
By Scott Galloway
To discover how the coronavirus pandemic will affect, well, everything, look no further than Post Corona. NYU professor Scott Galloway offers a piercing analysis that touches on technology, education, and government in his wide-ranging discussion of the world that COVID will leave us. View Our “Book Bite” Summary
Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation
By Kevin Roose
Technology columnist Kevin Roose lays out a hopeful, pragmatic vision for how humans can survive in the machine age. He shares the secrets of people and organizations that have thrived during periods of technological change, and explains how we can protect our own futures. View Our “Book Bite” Summary
The Fate of Food: What We’ll Eat in a Bigger, Hotter, Smarter World
By Amanda Little
Through her interviews and adventures with farmers, scientists, activists, and engineers, Vanderbilt professor Amanda Little explores new and old approaches to food production while charting the growth of a movement that could redefine sustainable food on a grand scale. View Our “Book Bite” Summary
2030: How Today’s Biggest Trends Will Collide and Reshape the Future of Everything
By Mauro F. Guillén
Wharton professor Mauro F. Guillén offers a groundbreaking analysis on the global trends shaping the future, including an analysis on how COVID-19 will amplify and accelerate each of these dramatic, often surprising changes. View Our “Book Bite” Summary
Humankind: A Hopeful History
By Rutger Bregman
Historian Rutger Bregman proposes that human nature is not evil, but kind and cooperative. He also shows how prison systems and economic policy are shaped by the opposite assumption—and how, when we shift to a more realistic view of human nature, we can build a better, more just world. View Our “Book Bite” Summary
The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race
By Walter Isaacson
The bestselling author of Leonardo da Vinci and Steve Jobs returns with a gripping account of how Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna and her colleagues launched a revolution that will allow us to cure diseases, fend off viruses, and have healthier babies. View Our “Book Bite” Summary
A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in an Age of Communication Overload
By Cal Newport
Drawing on years of investigative reporting, author and computer science professor Cal Newport makes the case that our current approach to work is broken, then lays out a series of principles and concrete instructions for fixing it. View Our “Book Bite” Summary
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