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1-Page Summary of 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

Overview

This book was published in 2018 by Penguin Random House. It is about 21 lessons for the 21st century.

The book is a collection of essays on various aspects of life in the 21st century. The author uses sub-titles to introduce each essay and lists lessons from that essay at the beginning of each chapter.

The book begins with an introduction, in which the author outlines how he approached his work. He also introduces some of the basic premises that underpin his analysis, including what he sees as potentially enlightening connections between history and the present.

Then, the author divides his book into five parts. In Part 1, he discusses how technological advances have evolved through history and their effects on industrialization and mechanization. He also examines the potential of information technology and biological technology in regard to people’s interactions with each other, governments, or individual identity.

Part II is about the political challenge and how technology has changed politics. It also considers possible future changes in politics due to technology. The author discusses his previous arguments from Part I, paying special attention to how global-scale issues are becoming more political because of technology.

Part III is called “Despair and Hope,” which focuses on a range of emotions and attitudes encountered by human beings as part of their experiences as individuals or members of a community. The focus here is how human beings react to perceived dangers and opportunities to transcend physical existence.

The author discusses the nature of truth and how it’s not quite as clear or simple as it once was. He also looks at how ideas about future truths are often more accessible in science fiction than in journalism-based writing.

Part V of the book is titled “Resilience.” It looks at different ways that individuals and communities can potentially survive in a global civilization defined by rapid transformations. The author concludes Part V, and the book as a whole, with the suggestion that learning to emotionally detach from suffering is useful for individuals and communities. He suggests meditation as one way humanity could survive increasing instability brought into existence by technology.

Section 0 Summary (Introduction)

The author says that his first book focused on the past, and his second focused on the future. In this book, he intends to focus more on what is happening in the present (i.e., early twenty-first century) within a historical context by considering both past and future. He also says that this book will consider different technological developments as well as how individuals, governments, and socio-political movements make use of them. He adds that it places all considerations within a historical context by looking at liberal democracy which has proven to be best way to maintain healthy societies despite its flaws and failings.

The author suggests that at the end of the 20th century, global shifts in perspectives on politics, economics and culture seemed to be putting centuries of economic, political and socio-cultural advancement in jeopardy. He then outlines what he sees as the challenges and choices faced by early 21st century society, suggesting that answering difficult questions is a matter of some urgency. This is connected to how global society has prioritized and emphasized the experiences and perspectives of the economic market over everything else. He warns that for this reason it’s perhaps more important than ever to make considered decisions about qualities or values contemporary life sooner rather than later even though those with broadest perspective often take longest time refine their beliefs about action. “Philosophers are very patient people but engineers are far less so, investors are least patient all” (xviii).