Duane Elgin

This talk and facilitated audience conversation explores themes ranging from the life stage of the human family to how unprecedented “adversity trends” (such as climate change) are meeting equally unprecedented “opportunity trends” (such as the communications revolution), and how this, in turn, is producing a pivotal time in human history. Duane further considers what we can do in our personal, professional, and civic lives to build a more promising future. Grounded in more than 35 years of work, the “tipping point talk” provides a big picture perspective for understanding the enormous waves of change that are sweeping the world.

This talk and facilitated audience conversation explores themes ranging from the life stage of the human family to how unprecedented “adversity trends” (such as climate change) are meeting equally unprecedented “opportunity trends” (such as the communications revolution), and how this, in turn, is producing a pivotal time in human history. Duane further considers what we can do in our personal, professional, and civic lives to build a more promising future. Grounded in more than 35 years of work, the “tipping point talk” provides a big picture perspective for understanding the enormous waves of change that are sweeping the world.

This keynote and/or workshop explores “cool lifestyles for our hot world.” Duane also looks at changing values as well as new forms of community that are emerging in response to climate change, energy shortages, and more. He presents a promising view of a future of simplicity and community.

A stunning view of the universe and our evolutionary journey within it is emerging from the combined wisdom of science and spirituality. In this talk, Duane explores these two threads and how they are converging with profound implications for humanity’s sense of identity, life-purpose, and understanding for the nature of the universe that is our home.

Citizens and communities face the “perfect storm” of a world systems crisis due to climate change, shortages of oil, and more. The conversation of democracy needs to match the seriousness of the challenges we confront. In a grass-roots, trans-partisan movement, citizens can create a new level of conversation for democracy and communicate our way into a more sustainable and meaningful future.

We live in a time of growing urgency. Economic breakdowns, climate change, energy shortages, and more fill the headlines. We know the world is changing but in what ways? What are the “adversity trends” and “opportunity trends” that are converging at this time and what are the alternative outcomes? Are there “big picture” perspectives that can help us make sense out of these challenging times? Can we see a bigger story being played out? What skills and talents are important to develop in these challenging times? This talk draws primarily upon my books Promise Ahead and Awakening Earth.

Lily Tomlin summarized the modern dilemma when she said that, “the problem with the rat race is that, even if you win, you’re still a rat.” Duane asserts that a growing number of people are saying they are not interested in winning the rat race but rather in joining the human race—with a higher quality of life. What does a more balanced and sustainable way of living look like? There is no “cookbook for sustainable lifestyles” with all of the answers, so how are people freshly inventing their lives? How are people shifting how they view the world, themselves, and the human journey as an integral part of changing lifestyles? In what ways is community vital to a future of sustainable prosperity? This talk draws upon the just released and fully revised edition of my book, Voluntary Simplicity.

Humanity has reached an historic turning point and decisions made today will be felt by people living far into the future. To make those decisions wisely, we can draw upon more than two thousand years of historical learning from both science and spiritual traditions and get a fresh view of the universe and of the human journey. When we step back and look at the big picture, we see an array of “beacons of hope” in the form of images and archetypes that are commonly recognized and inviting us into a more promising future. This talk draws upon my books, The Living Universe and Awakening Earth as well as a book I co-authored with Joseph Campbell and others, Changing Images of Man.