22 Generations

Modern societies are packed full of inventions and useful ideas that have accumulated over hundreds of generations. That's what built up the modern world we live in. We humans, among the millions of species of life, are the only one that thinks up innovative ideas and carries out the complex actions to make them real. What drives us to forever change our world this way? 22 Generations launches forth from a simple observation: we humans innovate because we're dissatisfied, and want to improve our lives. Our brains contain motivational circuitry that relentlessly pressures us to improve our lot in life. That brain circuitry is the product of millions of years of evolution. But our endless quest to improve our world has taken us far from the lives our brains evolved for ̶ the lives of our ancient ancestors. 22 Generations shows, in plain language, how our synthetic world is gradually erasing our most basic and universal evolutionary drive: the drive to create the next generation. Strong evidence shows the links between innovation, economic growth, and the collapse of fertility that's going on right now, all over the world. Despite our huge population and brilliant technologies, those connections lock our species onto a trajectory straight for extinction.