Great Reads for Thinkers
Busyness. It’s like a cancerous disease eroding our ability for deeper thinking, contemplation and creativity. Yet, many of us devote an inordinate number of hours a day to tactical busy work that saps our energy and enthusiasm. Then, we turn to streaming or social media as a salve. Sadly, at best these passive activities steal even more time. At worst, we spend too much time in echo chambers, dangerously skewing our thinking and taxing our mental health.
From an economic perspective, there’s an opportunity cost for the time we spend watching Netflix or scrolling on Facebook. According to Forbes, Americans spend about 3 hours per day streaming media—that’s the equivalent of a part-time job! Considering that reading can improve memory, creativity and vocabulary, we could benefit from spending an hour or two reading instead of streaming or scrolling!
If you’re ready to tap into the power of reading, start with these five Thought Front recommended reads. Ranging from philosophy and systems thinking to futures thinking and geopolitics, each promises to leave you with new ideas to ponder.
Deep Utopia: Life and Meaning in a Solved World by Nick Bostrom 2024
Thought experiments about how people will react to a world dominated by superintelligent AI.
Infectious Generosity: The Ultimate Idea Worth Spreading by Chris Anderson 2024 TED curator Chris Anderson shares an inspiring perspective on harnessing the power of the Internet as a force for good.
Ministry of the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson 2020
Kim Stanley Robinson portrays a fictional near future where climate change forces us to consider new economic models.
The Power of Crisis: How Three Threats—and Our Response Will Change the World by Ian Bremmer 2022
A political scientist’s perspective on how climate change, AI and global health emergencies will shape our future.
I Will Die in a Foreign Land by Kalani Pickhart 2021
A fictional story set in 2014 Ukraine amid the Russian annexation of Crimea provides a glimpse into the current Ukrainian struggle.
