Framing What the World Needs
Lachlan Forrow is a Senior Fellow at Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics and past Board Chair/CEO of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, the 1985 Nobel Peace laureate. Firdaus Kharas, an Officer of the Order of Canada, is the founder of Chocolate Moose Media.
Our world faces multiple simultaneous crises: regional conflicts, climate change, pandemics, economic inequality, and the threat of nuclear war. These threats mask another deep crisis, one that offers us all an unprecedented opportunity for human solidarity and flourishing. Our future depends on the wisdom of our choices.
Human beings instinctively respond to threats with alarms and defensive measures, which in our ancient evolutionary past had obvious advantages. In stark contrast, today hostile nationalistic rhetoric and diminishing international cooperation worsen crises.
Our focus on dangers and threats blinds us to the potential for a transformational moment of hope and opportunity. We must choose wisely, shifting from instinctual self-protective responses that will inevitably be self-defeating to collaborative problem-solving and a future of shared thriving
Recognizing our interdependence and shared values is crucial. Our collective future hinges on embracing common value: life, dignity, respect, love, empathy, and compassion. These values underpin all human societies and drive our deepest yearnings.
The idea of universal values is ancient, supported by philosophical discourse, psychological research, and global behavior patterns. Humanitarian responses to crises like natural disasters illustrate our fundamental instincts towards kindness and support.
Time and time again peoples everywhere have shown that human beings across the world, despite our many differences, have the capacity to unite in powerful ways when our deepest shared values, and the emotions through which we experience and express those values, are triggered. Examples abound, almost limitlessly, from our shared pride in humanity when the first man landed on the moon, our instantly awoken shared concern for teenagers trapped in a cave, or our shared relief and joy at a child being rescued from a deep well.
Modern bidirectional communication technologies enable rapid sharing of values, forming alliances for change. The youth, the most connected generation, use digital platforms to challenge power structures and drive meaningful change. Yet, the ability to instantly connect comes with great challenges. While studies of social media have shown that false news spreads faster than real news does, it is also true that stories of inspiration, joy, and heroism also spread rapidly.
So, how do we move forward? Three crucial actions are needed:
- Appreciating our interdependence and shared values.
- Using values-driven imagination to envision a better world.
- Taking hope-fueled actions to make that world real.
Each small action – whether posting or forwarding something on social media, or a small in-person human interaction – contributes to shaping our local and global patterns of how we are related to each other, and to bringing us closer to a global ethos and culture of mutual responsibility.
Global cooperation is essential for addressing multifaceted challenges like climate change and pandemics. Embracing a global perspective, while taking personal responsibility for our own small pieces, enhances international institutions and improves the human condition. By affirming these values, we pave the way for a just and compassionate world.
This vision, powered by modern communications, offers a potent opportunity for change. It is time to join together in action, striving towards an exciting, shared destiny based on our interdependence and shared aspirations, a destiny that each of us can and must join with others in creating.
