By Laura Valentini
In an era defined by geopolitical polarizations that threaten global stability, the looming challenge of climate change, and the ambiguous revolution of artificial intelligence, the key to steering humanity toward peace and development may lie in rejecting the very survival instincts that allowed our ancestors to thrive. This is according to futurologist Ari Wallach, who argues that the primitive “fight or flight” responses of the human nervous system are ill-suited for today’s complex challenges.
Instead, Wallach proposes a new worldview he calls “Longpath”—a conscious way of thinking and behaving that considers the impact of our actions on our children and great-grandchildren. This philosophy is the subject of his manifesto, “Longpath,” published by Rubbettino. The American scholar, a graduate of the University of California Berkeley, aims to颠覆 the prevailing paradigm by shifting focus from the short to the long term, pushing our goal-setting horizon far beyond today, tomorrow, or even the next five hundred years.
Ahead of his appearances at the forum in Cernobbio on Friday, September 5th, and Saturday, September 6th, Wallach—who collaborates with organizations like the UN Refugee Agency and the U.S. Department of State to help them envision and strategize for the future—explained the dual nature of the Longpath method in an interview with ANSA.
“It is both personal and collective,” Wallach stated. “On a personal level, it is a daily practice of asking how my choices ripple through time. Collectively, it is a method for decision-making within families, businesses, and governments, linking present actions to future outcomes. It’s not just about ‘long-term thinking.’ It’s about building habits and structures that prevent us from falling back into the failing pattern of short-term reactions. It is pragmatic foresight applied to daily life.”
In his book, Wallach observes that while history has had its ‘intertidal’ periods of epochal change, none have been as profoundly disruptive as the present. “We are in an earthquake because the shocks we face—climate change, AI, polarization—are deep structural shifts, not temporary turbulence,” he notes.
“Long-term thinking is not a cure in itself, but it is the foundation. Without it, we react with short cycles that worsen the situation. With it, we can steer technology, the economy, and culture toward prosperity instead of collapse. The future is not written. The decisions we make now will determine whether we build resilience or repeat failure,” emphasized Wallach, the founder and executive director of Longpath Labs.
When asked what it takes to create a better version of ourselves, Wallach replied, “It starts with the individual. A Longpath mindset requires slowing down and asking what legacy we want to leave. This means cultivating empathy and practicing awareness of how our choices extend into the future. When enough people adopt this approach, it spreads to families, communities, and institutions. Creating a better version of ourselves isn’t an abstract idea. It’s millions of daily actions, based on foresight, that together shape a society capable of long-term thriving.”
Addressing the challenge of our fast-paced, notification-driven society, Wallach acknowledged that “the pace of news and social media pushes us toward reactive, short-term thinking, that’s true. But every era has had to contend with disruptive tools: the telegraph, television, the internet. The question is whether we learn to use them in ways that strengthen meaning and connection instead of provoking outrage.”
“I am optimistic because I see a growing hunger for depth, for purpose, for something beyond the immediate reaction. This hunger is the opening to build a culture that values long-term vision,” he added.
Wallach also identified transgenerational empathy as a core pillar of Longpath. On the subject of ongoing wars and their impact on future generations, he stated: “Wars show us what happens when short-term fear and revenge prevail. Transgenerational empathy forces us to imagine the lives of our children and their children living with the consequences of today’s choices. This perspective can break cycles of violence. It doesn’t erase conflict, but it widens the frame. Without it, war repeats. With it, there is at least a possibility to break patterns and plant seeds of peace that last beyond the next generation.”
“Longpath” by Ari Wallach is published in the “Genera” series, promoted by Entopan, an international think tank founded in Southern Italy (Catanzaro), and directed by Francesco Cicione, Entopan’s founder and president.