One hundred years ago, life expectancy in most countries was less than 45 years. But if you are born today, the amount of life years that you can expect is over 70 years.
How did we nearly double life expectancy in a century?
One answer might be the advances in science: antibiotics, medications, sanitation, and many other discoveries.
However, science alone cannot create change.
The Case of Pasteurization
In the 1800’s, children were dying from contaminated milk. In 1865, Louise Pasteur invented the pasteurization process to sterilize milk. In 1915 (50 years later), pasteurization became the standard for processing milk. Why did it take 50 years for this lifesaving advance to become the norm?
Science (in this case chemistry) could not solve this problem by itself, we needed to persuade society to change its story. The changemakers who took up the cause understood the science, but they were not scientists. These proponents understood that they had to get people to trust the new milk and the new taste of pasteurized milk. Science had already solved the problem, but now they had to create a new story about milk and persuade society to accept it. Watch the TEDx talk by Steven Johnson to learn more.
Creating a New Story
Today, we have many new advances held back by institutional memory, ideas of tradition, and old profit margins. What are the new stories that will be told 50 years from now? How will life expectancy change?
How can you be a changemaker? You will need more than science… you will need a new story.
What’s the story (big or small) that you would like to change?
Watch TEDx talk by Steven Johnson: How humanity doubled life expectancy in a century
Book by Steven Johnson
