The Optimist's Telescope by Bina Venkataraman

THE OPTIMIST'S TELESCOPE by Bina Venkataraman begins with a story about not treating a rash and subsequently having to deal with the effects of a tick bite; as the author says, “Smart people make reckless decisions, despite clear warnings.” Venkataraman, currently director of Global Policy Initiatives at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, explores why “sometimes people, businesses, and communities do avert crisis and act for the sake of the future” when others fail to do so. The author encourages long term thinking versus settling for immediate gratification or short-term decisions. She surveys a variety of case studies, including increased flooding and natural disasters sparked by hurricanes and climate change, or financial decisions, or historical events, like the Cuban Missile Crisis. Our students and teachers will appreciate the comfortable, conversational tone of this text. In one example, the author describes how college students react after seeing virtual reality avatars of their older selves. Later, Venkataraman includes a section on war games that refers to their “long history of shaping military history” and of including a “twist” so as to “explore what decisions they [players] would make when caught by surprise and what potential downside or upside consequences could emerge.” THE OPTIMIST'S TELESCOPE, subtitled “Thinking Ahead in a Reckless Age,” is a thoughtful text worth perusing; it includes detailed notes and a helpful index.