Wise Ancestors, Good Ancestors: Why Mindfulness Matters in the Promotion of Planetary Health

Alan C. Logan, Susan H. Berman, Richard B. Scott, Brian M. Berman and Susan L. Prescott
Additional contact information
Alan C. Logan: Nova Institute for Health of People, Places and Planet, 1407 Fleet St, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA
Susan H. Berman: Nova Institute for Health of People, Places and Planet, 1407 Fleet St, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA
Richard B. Scott: Nova Institute for Health of People, Places and Planet, 1407 Fleet St, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA
Brian M. Berman: Nova Institute for Health of People, Places and Planet, 1407 Fleet St, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA
Susan L. Prescott: Nova Institute for Health of People, Places and Planet, 1407 Fleet St, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA

Challenges, 2021, vol. 12, issue 2, 1-14

Abstract: The concept of planetary health blurs the artificial lines between health at scales of person, place, and planet. It emphasizes the interconnected grand challenges of our time, and underscores the need for integration of biological, psychological, social, and cultural aspects of health in the modern environment. Here, in our Viewpoint article, we revisit vaccine pioneer Jonas Salk’s contention that wisdom is central to the concept of planetary health. Our perspective is centered on the idea that practical wisdom is associated with decision-making that leads to flourishing—the vitality and fullest potential of individuals, communities, and life on the planet as a whole. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has illustrated the acute consequences of unwise and mindless leadership; yet, wisdom and mindfulness, or lack thereof, is no less consequential to grotesque biodiversity losses, climate change, environmental degradation, resource depletion, the global burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), health inequalities, and social injustices. Since mindfulness is a teachable asset linked to both wisdom and flourishing, we argue that mindfulness deserves much greater attention in the context of planetary health.

Keywords: planetary health; wisdom; mindfulness; flourishing; purpose and meaning; happiness; value systems; prosocial behaviors; spirituality; mutualism; responsibility; reciprocity; COVID-19; non-communicable diseases (NCDs); biodiversity losses; climate change; mental health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A00 C00 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2078-1547/12/2/26/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2078-1547/12/2/26/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jchals:v:12:y:2021:i:2:p:26-:d:652568

Access Statistics for this article

Challenges is currently edited by Ms. Karen Sun

More articles in Challenges from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().