This year has brought several baffling concepts to light for me. These include: Why does a racist con-man have 74,122,580 registered supporters? Why are children kept in cages for years and women and girls given forced hysterectomies? Why are governments around the world unable to agree to a course of action that would reduce the spread of COVID-19? Why have 1,508,906 died already from this virus when this isn’t human’s first experience with a plague? Why black and indigenous lives don’t matter to the vast majority? Why extreme weather, wildfires, and drought are not seen as evidence of climate change caused by humans? Why are we rushing to get things back to “normal” when “normal” is what brought us to this precipice in the first place?
Dr. Rod O’Connor had some answers for me in Einstein’s Last Message: Saving Our World by Changing How We Think. This meticulously researched book discusses the flaws in thinking that are preventing us from making lasting changes in order to avert the total world destruction we are on the verge of enacting. Not only that, it provides some key adjustments we can make in our thinking to literally save the world. Scientists have already told us exactly what actions we need to take to save our planet and ourselves. It’s up to us to prioritize these actions and change our thinking about our place in the world. (See also Our planet is on the brink. Here’s how we save it, Saving Life on Earth: A Plan to Halt the Global Extinction Crisis, and Why we’ll succeed in saving the planet from climate change)
Dr. O’Connor presents an overwhelming topic in manageable parts. He uses the metaphor of Russian nesting dolls that contain our thoughts and actions about the world, people, self, and right and wrong to explain how and why we are where we are in history. With personal anecdotes, scientific research findings, and examples from individuals throughout history, including Einstein), the author lays it all out for us. In addition, the appendix has a checklist for decisions about the material world, involving people, gaining happiness, and our individual sense of right and wrong to help everyone make better choices going forward. The second appendix gives suggestions on ways to improve ourselves through personal reflection.
As you can see, there is an unbelievable amount of useful information between the covers. The book isn’t long but it does delve into deficiencies we all have. Once I began, I could not put it down. Unfortunately, some readers may not be ready to hear what Dr. O’Connor has to say and that’s a shame, because until we are of one mind, there will be no future for us or our children or grandchildren or great-children. But if you are up for it, I invite you to pick up a copy of Einstein’s Last Message: Saving Our World by Changing How We Think by Dr. Rod O’Connor. It’s a book everyone should read.
I received an ARC from Reedsy Discovery. You can read my review here.