The root of much of our difficulty, when it comes to facing the future, lies in the way we have come to think about generations, as layers succeeding one another. Historically, this is anomalous, yet it is mostly taken for granted as an unquestioned backdrop to discussions of evolution, life and death, longevity, extinction, sustainability, education, climate change, and a host of other matters of intense contemporary concern. This talk suggests that a return to the idea that life is forged in the overlap of generations, in ongoing relations of collaboration, might not only ameliorate some of our anxieties, but also offer a lasting foundation for coexistence. But it will also mean having to abandon some or our most cherished convictions, including our faith in the inevitability of progress, and in the ability of science and technology to cushion humanity from environmental impacts. A perfect world is not around the corner, nor will our troubles ever end. Nevertheless, for as long as life continues, there is hope for generations to come.

Tim Ingold, CBE, FBA, FRSE is Professor Emeritus of Social Anthropology at the University of Aberdeen. He has carried out fieldwork among Saami and Finnish people in Lapland, and has written on environment, technology and social organisation in the circumpolar North, on animals in human society, and on human ecology and evolutionary theory. His more recent work explores environmental perception and skilled practice. Ingold’s current interests lie on the interface between anthropology, archaeology, art and architecture. His recent books include The Perception of the Environment (2000), Lines (2007), Being Alive (2011), Making (2013), The Life of Lines (2015), Anthropology and/as Education (2018), Anthropology: Why it Matters (2018), Correspondences (2020) and Imagining for Real (2022). His next book, The Rise and Fall of Generation Now, will be published in December 2023. Ingold is a Fellow of the British Academy and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In 2022 he was made a CBE for services to Anthropology.