How to Prepare for Uncertain Futures with David Christian

The Rhys Show

In this episode, historian, scholar of Russian history, professor emeritus and author David Christian joins us once again to talk about his new book Future Stories, a guide with a big-history perspective that helps us get prepared for the future. David Christian is the creator of Big History, a holistic and interdisciplinary approach that encompasses the history of human existence on a broad scale, from the Big Bang up to the present and the future. We dive deep into crucial patterns and processes that underlie everything and help us understand how to think about the future, what actions we must take to make this world a better place, as well as how and why we must collaborate better, improve our communication and share information better. If we connect the study of the past with the study of the future, we can start to imagine what the world will look like in the future and collaboratively look for solutions to the huge challenges ahead of us. I highly recommend Future Stories, it’s a mind blower! SUPPORT US ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/rhyslindmark JOIN OUR DISCORD: https://discord.gg/PDAPkhNxrC Who is David Christian? David Christian is a Professor Emeritus at Macquarie University, where he was formerly a Distinguished Professor of History and the director of the Big History Institute. He co-founded the Big History Project with Bill Gates, his Coursera MOOCs are popular around the world, and he is co-creator of the Macquarie University Big History School. He is an author of numerous books amongst which are the bestseller Origin Story and his recent book Future Stories. Topics: Welcome David Christian to The Rhys Show!: (00:00:00) What unique angle does David as a historian bring to thinking about the future?: (00:03:44) Patterns & processes from the past to predict the future: (00:06:15) Future Stories, part 1: How scientists & living organisms think about the future: (00:12:18) Future Stories, part 2: How existing organisms already think about managing the future: (00:16:48) Learning from multicellular organisms how we should manage the future : (00:22:25) Future Stories, part 3: How humans think of the future: (00:00:00) Making the collective learning process for good: (00:33:31) Future Stories, part 4: How to imagine the future: (00:39:38) How to do the politics right and reach the goals we have: (00:46:43) Connect with David Christian: Twitter: https://twitter.com/davidgchristian Facebook Big History Project: https://www.facebook.com/OERProject Web Big History Project: https://www.bighistoryproject.com/home