Can a few people help create a new mindset that heals the planet? That’s one of the animating ideas behind a new think tank in Italy called the Island of Knowledge. Founded by Dartmouth physicist Marcelo Gleiser, this intellectual retreat center brings together small groups of people – scientists, philosophers, artists, activists – to look for solutions to some of the biggest challenges of our time: the climate crisis, loss of biodiversity, global inequality, rising rates of depression.
I’ve started hearing the word “polycrisis” to describe these interconnected problems. More and more people say we desperately need a new conceptual framework – perhaps a new scientific paradigm – that transforms our relationship to the natural world and with each other. These IOK meetings are one effort to shift our thinking.
Over the past year, Anne and I have attended three of these gatherings near Siena, recording talks and taping interviews with a wide range of fascinating people. Most recently, the topic was human flourishing, where we heard neuroscientist Richie Davidson talk about the new science of happiness. Richie says flourishing is a skill we can all cultivate, and he believes just a few minutes of mindfulness practice every day could make entire cities healthier and happier.
Can small groups of scientists and visionaries really change the world? It sounds like wishful thinking. So when I asked one of the participants, astrophysicist Adam Frank, about the mission of this project, he laughed and said, “We’re assembling the team. Like the Avengers.”
His point is not that these meetings in Italy are the only place exploring these big ideas. There are small groups all around the world talking and dreaming, creating new models of communities, experimenting with breakthrough technologies and rediscovering old systems of knowledge, trying to create a more livable world.
Let’s hope they – and we – succeed.
– Steve