The book We are not Ants! (Random House Mondadori), written by Fernando Casado Cañeque, Doris Obermair, Javier Creus, and Pablo Juncadella turns 10 years old.
As “a guide for the informed optimists”, this publication offers today more than ever a necessary approach to combat the fatalistic views of humanity.
The book is based on information as the key to find motivation and promote change in a climate of pessimism that can lead to inertia.
To do this, the first chapter demonstrates how the world is doing well: Humans have made incredible progress in many areas in recent decades: we live longer, we are capable of feeding more, educating more, we have eradicated many diseases than before.
But there is also much that is not going well: Many emphasize that humans have not been able to solve the main social challenges. It is true. But, as the book affirms, we are doing better than we think and than the pessimists would have us believe.
Fortunately, there is also “what you can do”. The book demonstrates with more than 120 examples how the world is full of social innovators, people who create ideas and tools that allow us all to live better, more sustainable and with more opportunities for all without having to give up progress.
10 years later and in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis, there are maybe more reasons for pessimism, but also many more to think differently and build back better.
