How to be a good ancestor

Thinking long term

The Silo (Apple TV+)

"We can derive purpose from striving to secure the flourishing of life, generation after generation. We can begin to liberate ourselves from the fear of death by seeing ourselves as part of a bigger picture. The quest to think long is full of existential sustenance.” — Roman Krznaric

Last week I was in Cairo, Egypt. Cairo is a busy city. With its 20 million people, it's home to more individuals than the entire country of Belgium. Being there felt like such a change of pace from Europe too. The crazy zigzagging traffic, the old and sand-tainted buildings, the sounds of loud cars and people, the smell of incense and tasty food, the openness and friendliness of the people.

But what is more impressive about Cairo and what everyone goes there to see is the pyramids and everything regarding the old Egyptian civilization. It is indeed extremely impressive. The huge size of the pyramids, the incredible amount of art with so many delicate details on the objects and paintings, and how preserved the mummies are. Everything you see is so magnificent, so pristine, even if it's 3,000, 4,000 or even 5,000 years old!

When you consider northern Europe 4,000 years ago, you can see how advanced the Egyptians were. Here, there was nothing compared to Egypt, where there was this complex civilization, art, and culture. It's impossible to not notice their superiority when you are there and easy to understand why white people resort to aliens to explain it. The Egyptians were leagues ahead of everyone at that time.

The mismatch between how advanced and rich this civilization was and the poverty and decadence we see around it in modern Cairo makes it impossible not to think of colonialism. As do the numerous missing items from Egypt sitting in museums in the UK, Germany and other countries from the Global North.

But today I don't want to discuss colonialism. What I want to discuss is how being there made me feel overwhelmed by the time scale. We are used to thinking in such brief periods of time: a week, a year, five years — there, facing 5,000 years of history, you feel a part of this long temporal scale, much broader than any of us and our short lives.

While looking at the many mummies of kings and queens at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, I wondered if those people would have imagined having their bodies preserved 3,000 or 4,000 years into the future. Did they imagine the future? Did they think all the huge temples they built and all the detailed jewelry, drawings and art would last so long?

More importantly, is anyone right now even looking so far into the future? When have we lost the will to build things that last?

Stuck on short-termism

All those questions brought me back to a book I recently read called “How to be a good ancestor” by Roman Krznaric. In it, he discusses the problems we face when everyone, but especially most companies and politicians, only focus on immediate matters. Planning usually extends as far as five or ten years. Politicians plan for a single mandate, if that¹.

We too are stuck on our immediate needs, never considering how our actions will play out in the future. Krznaric explains that especially in more competitive and less trusting societies, we tend to prefer any possible reward now — in contrast to believing that better things will come and considering the future. That leads to many personal problems and even further competitiveness and distrust.

It is also related to large societal issues we face, especially environmentally. We focus on the benefits of exploiting resources now, but don't consider the future impact it will have. In the same way, governments choose to save money now, cutting health and other social services, which will have catastrophic consequences for several future generations. By choosing the present over the future we are taking away the possibilities of a better future for us and that of the many people to come.

Even though it explores the many ways we are too focused on immediatism, I enjoyed this book because it is hopeful. It showcases many examples of people around the world trying to break up with this way of thinking, especially on policies. One interesting example is how Japan uses the native-American seventh generation principle. In it, two groups are formed. One representing the people today and the other representing the people from seven generations in the future (something around 200 years).

In order to fully believe they are from the future, the people who represent seven generations in the future will even wear different clothes. The two groups will discuss policies and laws to be presented to the Japanese or local governments. This experiment has shown that the people "from the future" will advocate for more sustainable policies and stronger social gains.

It also illustrates that just thinking about how the world will be and the people that will live in the future helps us feel more empathy for them. This helps us act differently and fight for stronger changes.

Seeing ourselves as part of a bigger picture

Native populations have much to teach us in this regard. For instance, there's a fundamental Mäori spiritual concept called "whakappa". Krznaric writes that it is “a long unbroken chain of humans standing arm in arm from the beginning of time to the end of eternity. The sun only shines briefly in this time, our time. It's our obligation and responsibility to add to the legacy. Our first responsibility is to be a good ancestor.”

I could definitely feel the "whakappa" in Egypt. We are connected. We have been here for a long time and we will be here still in the future.

In this sense, the book calls on us to stop thinking the world is ending. It is not. There will be people, plants and animals living on Earth for the next 100, 200, 1,000 years, and who knows for how long. What we choose to do today will impact the lives of beings residing here in the future. We can make their lives worse or better depending on our choices.

We have to chose. Do we want to remain a society driven by short-term thinking and individualistic values, or do we want to shift in the direction of long-term thinking for the common good?

We don't have to be pharaohs to think about our legacy and how we leave this world. Legacy doesn't only mean power and money, or even building large pyramids. It can mean the good deeds you did for the world. Who you’ve helped, who you have taught, who you have touched.

It doesn't have to be your lineage or your kids either. Thinking about the future can be holistic. It can embrace all living things.

Legacy doesn't have to be a fear of death either, as I believe many pharaohs had it by mummifying and building so much. It can just mean doing the best you can. It can just mean thinking that you are part of a long history of people, doing what they thought was best. Creating and changing the world. Building wonderful and helpful things. Working together.

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How to be a good ancestor by Roman Krznaric

Our actions have both immediate and long-term consequences, with just a few years left to avert climate catastrophe, but a transformed planet for millenia if we fail.

In his work, philosopher Roman Krznaric explores these vast timescales and our place within them. How can we navigate the tension between the need for immediate action and the long view of all human life? What does it mean to be a good ancestor to all those who come after?

Koyaanisqatsi (1982)

Koyaanisqatsi is an artsy 1982 documentary film that explores the relationship between humans, nature and technology. It is not your usual documentary, because there's no narration. It features beautiful time-lapse and slow-motion footage of cities and landscapes, accompanied only by music and a few phrases in the Hopi language.

It shows a world that is highly accelerated and highly humanly modified. Even though it's from the 1980s, its message still feels relevant. You just need to be prepared for a unusual movie.

You can also watch it for free, but with a lower resolution.

The Silo (Apple+)

Over the course of many years, a population of ten thousand humans has lived in an underground silo. Its residents don't know how long they have been there or what has happened outside. They are ruled by strict laws and law enforcement. Still, from time to time, a few will start questioning what is out of the silo and why they have to live like that.

Adapted from Hugh Howey's Silo trilogy novels, it is a very well produced and gripping TV show. It discusses how information and truth should be handled in societies, especially in difficult circumstances. It also discusses if the silo population's survival is worth hiding the truth, manipulating and acting oppressively. It is also much more than that, addressing relevant modern issues such as worker's oppression, justice, power and much more. It made me want to read the books.

1. A counter-example is China who has more long-term plans spanning as far as 40 years. Still, they are not exactly a democracy and there aren't any government planning more than 40 years ahead.