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A New Reality: Human Evolution for a Sustainable Future
A New Human Evolution for a Sustainable Future provides a startling, fresh new message of understanding, perspective and hope for today’s tense, rapid-fire, kaleidoscopically changing world.
Drawn from the writings of visionary scientist Jonas Salk, who developed the polio vaccine, and extended and developed by his son Jonathan, the message of A New Reality explodes from the past, and sheds light on tensions that besiege us, and the currents of discord that are raging as these words are written. More importantly, it indicates a way forward out of our current situation.
Written by a world-famous doctor and folk hero, based on population data, rich in visual imagery, elegantly designed, and clearly written, A New Reality is unique in the marketplace. Readable in one or two sittings, it is accessible to the general reader while at the same time being of essential value to policy makers and academics. Its brevity and simplicity of design belie the importance and sophistication of its message.
“We are at a point in the course of human social evolution when the demands of survival converge with the higher ideals of humankind and the well-being and flourishing of human society. It is up to us to see that we navigate this transition, adapting to and emerging in a new reality.” —A New Reality
Our country is divided and polarized. Terrorism is a major threat throughout much of the world. Mass migrations are causing national and international tension. Population growth continues to increase, especially in the developing regions of the world. Controversy rages as to the use of fossil fuels versus the development of alternative forms of energy. Disagreement continues about climate change. Opposing currents of opinion collide as to how much we should help other areas in the world and how much to help ourselves. Basic values are in conflict.
More than 40 years ago, Jonas Salk understood that we are at a unique moment in the history of the human species. After centuries of increase, population growth has begun to slow and is trending toward equilibrium. This change is accompanied by an equally significant change in human values—a shift from those based on unlimited availability of resources, unremitting growth, excess, independence, competition and short-term thinking to those based on limits, equilibrium, balance, interdependence, cooperation and long-term thinking. This momentous transition is the source of far-reaching tension and conflict.
The way through this difficult era is to understand its basis and to focus on new values that will be of the greatest benefit to humankind. There is an urgency, however, and failure to adapt will result in disaster both for humanity and for the planet as a whole.
A New Reality delivers a message of both caution and hope. Readers across the social and political spectrum will find it a reasoned and balanced counterpoint to current social and political trends. Its elegant design and long-range perspective will appeal to general readers, policy makers, millennials, baby boomers, teachers, and students, filling a need in the marketplace for a work of positivity and wisdom in otherwise bleak times.
Drawn from the writings of visionary scientist Jonas Salk, who developed the polio vaccine, and extended and developed by his son Jonathan, the message of A New Reality explodes from the past, and sheds light on tensions that besiege us, and the currents of discord that are raging as these words are written. More importantly, it indicates a way forward out of our current situation.
Written by a world-famous doctor and folk hero, based on population data, rich in visual imagery, elegantly designed, and clearly written, A New Reality is unique in the marketplace. Readable in one or two sittings, it is accessible to the general reader while at the same time being of essential value to policy makers and academics. Its brevity and simplicity of design belie the importance and sophistication of its message.
“We are at a point in the course of human social evolution when the demands of survival converge with the higher ideals of humankind and the well-being and flourishing of human society. It is up to us to see that we navigate this transition, adapting to and emerging in a new reality.” —A New Reality
Our country is divided and polarized. Terrorism is a major threat throughout much of the world. Mass migrations are causing national and international tension. Population growth continues to increase, especially in the developing regions of the world. Controversy rages as to the use of fossil fuels versus the development of alternative forms of energy. Disagreement continues about climate change. Opposing currents of opinion collide as to how much we should help other areas in the world and how much to help ourselves. Basic values are in conflict.
More than 40 years ago, Jonas Salk understood that we are at a unique moment in the history of the human species. After centuries of increase, population growth has begun to slow and is trending toward equilibrium. This change is accompanied by an equally significant change in human values—a shift from those based on unlimited availability of resources, unremitting growth, excess, independence, competition and short-term thinking to those based on limits, equilibrium, balance, interdependence, cooperation and long-term thinking. This momentous transition is the source of far-reaching tension and conflict.
The way through this difficult era is to understand its basis and to focus on new values that will be of the greatest benefit to humankind. There is an urgency, however, and failure to adapt will result in disaster both for humanity and for the planet as a whole.
A New Reality delivers a message of both caution and hope. Readers across the social and political spectrum will find it a reasoned and balanced counterpoint to current social and political trends. Its elegant design and long-range perspective will appeal to general readers, policy makers, millennials, baby boomers, teachers, and students, filling a need in the marketplace for a work of positivity and wisdom in otherwise bleak times.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published June 26, 2018
22 people are currently reading
744 people want to read
About the author
Jonas Salk
21 books34 followersJonas Salk is one of the most famous and revered figures of the twentieth century.
He was the developer of the first effective vaccine to prevent polio. Almost overnight, he became internationally famous—a hero to an appreciative public. His legacy survives to this day, and his name and image are instantly recognizable to many.
In the last decades of his life, Salk devoted considerable attention to the development of an evolutionary philosophy that would be the basis for solving some of the most basic problems of humankind. He was the author of four books, including World Population and Human Values: A New Reality, written in 1981 with his son Jonathan. A New Reality is an update, revision and redesign of that title.
Since his death in 1995, Salk and his legacy continue to be well-known. A recent biography (Jonas Salk: A Life by Charlotte Jacobs, Oxford University Press 2015) was included in the New York Times list of the 100 best books of 2015.
Jonas Salk’s wish was that his ideas would continue to be disseminated so that, like a vaccine, they might have the most positive effect on the greatest number of people. The book can be seen as his vaccine.
Learn more at anewrealitybook.com
He was the developer of the first effective vaccine to prevent polio. Almost overnight, he became internationally famous—a hero to an appreciative public. His legacy survives to this day, and his name and image are instantly recognizable to many.
In the last decades of his life, Salk devoted considerable attention to the development of an evolutionary philosophy that would be the basis for solving some of the most basic problems of humankind. He was the author of four books, including World Population and Human Values: A New Reality, written in 1981 with his son Jonathan. A New Reality is an update, revision and redesign of that title.
Since his death in 1995, Salk and his legacy continue to be well-known. A recent biography (Jonas Salk: A Life by Charlotte Jacobs, Oxford University Press 2015) was included in the New York Times list of the 100 best books of 2015.
Jonas Salk’s wish was that his ideas would continue to be disseminated so that, like a vaccine, they might have the most positive effect on the greatest number of people. The book can be seen as his vaccine.
Learn more at anewrealitybook.com
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
February 13, 2019
Remarkable book with such a timely message of shaping the future. Should be compulsory reading for planners and politicians.
September 15, 2019
Very simple and easy-to-read (you could finish it in an hour or two) but well-designed and vital book proposing that we are in a critical stage of human evolution and development, shifting from an Epoch of constant and unlimited growth of populations and economies, competition, power, individualism, etc (Epoch A) to a new era (Epoch B) characterized by conservation, a recognition of limits, a slowing global population growth, increased collaboration, cooperation, and collective identity. Salk was not only a great scientist, but a great and humane philosopher.
Would recommend for anyone interested in big picture ideas, sustainability and the future of our species and planet.
Would recommend for anyone interested in big picture ideas, sustainability and the future of our species and planet.
May 8, 2019
Love the optimism. Love the design. Love the advocacy for the idea that we should value equilibrium rather than growth & the interpersonal rather than the exploitative; wanted more exploration of that idea. The sigmoid curves alone weren't enough for me.
December 1, 2019
Extremely basic
Read
June 4, 2018My interview with Jonathan Salk about the reissued version of his book with his father, Dr. Jonas Salk:
UNTIL ONLY RECENTLY, the whole of human history has been marked by population growth, first gradual and then, in the past two hundred years, a sudden explosion. But in the last decades of the 20th century, population growth began to slow, and eventually, it will plateau or even decline.
The moment at which growth goes from accelerating to decelerating, according to a theory posited by Dr. Jonas Salk and his son Jonathan Salk in their book, "World Population and Human Values: A New Reality," is called an inflection point – and would be filled with turmoil and conflict, but also opportunity.
Although Salk is celebrated worldwide as the developer of one of the first successful polio vaccines, the famed virologist spent many of his later years developing this theory on population growth.
Based on observations of biology that show population growth tends to form an sigmoid, or S-curve, Salk predicted that worldwide population growth, accelerating from less than 1 billion in 1804 to 7 billion by the end of the 20th Century, would reach an inflection point and then begin to slow into a plateau.
Salk characterizes the time before the inflection point as Epoch A, and in that period, people were focused on their own betterment and achievement as necessary to capitalize on the potential for great growth. But going forward, after the inflection point in Epoch B, people will need to be more collaborative and sustainability-oriented. This plays out now in issues like climate change, where the world must work together to combat the issue.
The original publication of the Salks' book was met with little commercial success. But nearly four decades on, Jonathan Salk has seen many of the theories posited by his father, who died in 1995, beginning to come true. Salk, now a psychiatrist, recently spoke with U.S. News about the revised book, "A New Reality: Human Evolution for a Sustainable Future," and how this unprecedented moment in human history will shape our future. Excerpts:
Why revise and reissue this book now?
In the years since [publication], I noticed that a lot of the things we had thought about were coming to pass, particularly in terms of adjusting sustainability and global warming, but also in terms of a lot of social and political trends.
The book has a particular kind of resonance and a particular kind of relevance at this moment in time, because we're really seeing the pull between two differing value systems, and making decisions as a species about how we're going to deal with the future. It's always been a meaningful book, but I think it's particularly poignant at this moment in time.
We're passing through a point of inflection where population growth is slowing throughout the Earth and heading toward a plateau. To adapt and survive in Epoch A, Epoch A values – independence, competition, unfettered growth – were advantageous to people. But after the inflection point, in Epoch B, different values of cooperation, of interdependence, of sustainability, take over. At the inflection point – the transition point between two sets of values – is the point at which we're living today. So there's a tremendous tension between moving forward with things like global agreements, interdependence, cooperation internationally, and then there's a whole set of people who are wanting to recruit the values of the past, the Epoch A values.
What are some examples of conflicts that are ongoing that you attribute to us currently being at the inflection point?
The most obvious one, and the easiest one to get your head around, has to do with climate change, allocation of resources and use of human resources. We came from a period of time for centuries where it seemed like resources were unlimited, with unfettered consumption and unfettered disposal of waste. That began to not be so advantageous, particularly in the '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, and there was a necessity to adapt to the limitations by consuming less and by coming up with a concept of sustainability.
Things were moving in that direction, and what we ran into was, there's two differing values systems and two different factions: one wanting to go back to the growth model, and do what was comfortable for centuries before, and the other looking ahead and seeing what we could do to adapt to the fact that there are limits on growth and there's a plateau and a ceiling on how much we can expand.
We're in a situation where we can't continue expanding. We've reached the limits of space and resources on the planet and energy. Our values system based on expanding and growth, which is what we had for many centuries, won't work any more. We need to adapt to different kinds of social and political and economic models that are adapted to equilibrium as opposed to growth, and that's where a concept like sustainability comes from.
It's clear that if we don't make adaptations, we're going to alter the ecology of the Earth to the point where we may not be able to survive as a species. But at the same time, in order to adapt to that, we have to take a look at the planet as interdependent and from a global point of view. So that we understand that the welfare of human beings in the other part of the planet, particularly in the developing world, will have really important effects on our well being, and that our well being is tied to the wellbeing of people and human beings all over the earth.
Read the rest of the interview here.
UNTIL ONLY RECENTLY, the whole of human history has been marked by population growth, first gradual and then, in the past two hundred years, a sudden explosion. But in the last decades of the 20th century, population growth began to slow, and eventually, it will plateau or even decline.
The moment at which growth goes from accelerating to decelerating, according to a theory posited by Dr. Jonas Salk and his son Jonathan Salk in their book, "World Population and Human Values: A New Reality," is called an inflection point – and would be filled with turmoil and conflict, but also opportunity.
Although Salk is celebrated worldwide as the developer of one of the first successful polio vaccines, the famed virologist spent many of his later years developing this theory on population growth.
Based on observations of biology that show population growth tends to form an sigmoid, or S-curve, Salk predicted that worldwide population growth, accelerating from less than 1 billion in 1804 to 7 billion by the end of the 20th Century, would reach an inflection point and then begin to slow into a plateau.
Salk characterizes the time before the inflection point as Epoch A, and in that period, people were focused on their own betterment and achievement as necessary to capitalize on the potential for great growth. But going forward, after the inflection point in Epoch B, people will need to be more collaborative and sustainability-oriented. This plays out now in issues like climate change, where the world must work together to combat the issue.
The original publication of the Salks' book was met with little commercial success. But nearly four decades on, Jonathan Salk has seen many of the theories posited by his father, who died in 1995, beginning to come true. Salk, now a psychiatrist, recently spoke with U.S. News about the revised book, "A New Reality: Human Evolution for a Sustainable Future," and how this unprecedented moment in human history will shape our future. Excerpts:
Why revise and reissue this book now?
In the years since [publication], I noticed that a lot of the things we had thought about were coming to pass, particularly in terms of adjusting sustainability and global warming, but also in terms of a lot of social and political trends.
The book has a particular kind of resonance and a particular kind of relevance at this moment in time, because we're really seeing the pull between two differing value systems, and making decisions as a species about how we're going to deal with the future. It's always been a meaningful book, but I think it's particularly poignant at this moment in time.
We're passing through a point of inflection where population growth is slowing throughout the Earth and heading toward a plateau. To adapt and survive in Epoch A, Epoch A values – independence, competition, unfettered growth – were advantageous to people. But after the inflection point, in Epoch B, different values of cooperation, of interdependence, of sustainability, take over. At the inflection point – the transition point between two sets of values – is the point at which we're living today. So there's a tremendous tension between moving forward with things like global agreements, interdependence, cooperation internationally, and then there's a whole set of people who are wanting to recruit the values of the past, the Epoch A values.
What are some examples of conflicts that are ongoing that you attribute to us currently being at the inflection point?
The most obvious one, and the easiest one to get your head around, has to do with climate change, allocation of resources and use of human resources. We came from a period of time for centuries where it seemed like resources were unlimited, with unfettered consumption and unfettered disposal of waste. That began to not be so advantageous, particularly in the '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, and there was a necessity to adapt to the limitations by consuming less and by coming up with a concept of sustainability.
Things were moving in that direction, and what we ran into was, there's two differing values systems and two different factions: one wanting to go back to the growth model, and do what was comfortable for centuries before, and the other looking ahead and seeing what we could do to adapt to the fact that there are limits on growth and there's a plateau and a ceiling on how much we can expand.
We're in a situation where we can't continue expanding. We've reached the limits of space and resources on the planet and energy. Our values system based on expanding and growth, which is what we had for many centuries, won't work any more. We need to adapt to different kinds of social and political and economic models that are adapted to equilibrium as opposed to growth, and that's where a concept like sustainability comes from.
It's clear that if we don't make adaptations, we're going to alter the ecology of the Earth to the point where we may not be able to survive as a species. But at the same time, in order to adapt to that, we have to take a look at the planet as interdependent and from a global point of view. So that we understand that the welfare of human beings in the other part of the planet, particularly in the developing world, will have really important effects on our well being, and that our well being is tied to the wellbeing of people and human beings all over the earth.
Read the rest of the interview here.
May 15, 2024
This entire book is based upon the premise that it is "an inescapable reality" that there are now too many humans on Earth. I was curious about this book despite the fact that I could not disagree more. (I think it is an inescapable reality that to survive humans must be multi-planetary. I think that just as 90% of the first settlers of the Americas died, 90% of the first settlers of different planets will die too. I think the process of becoming multi planetary will cost billions of lives, and we need billions of extra people to accomplish this. I also think that humans are incredible problem solvers and can make the Earth inhabitable for more people than Salk thinks.)
Despite disagreeing with the fundamental premise of this book, I still wanted to read Salk's arguments. I wanted to know what the "new reality" is. I was expecting to be challenged to consider a convincing point of view different from my own. What I found was: the human race must transform from a competitive species to a non-competitive one.
The idea that humans can be non-competitive is detached from reality. All life on Earth competes with other life for survival. Bacteria compete to survive and breed. Plants compete to survive and breed. Animals compete to survive and breed. But not humans. They are going to... not do that. They are going to change the game of life. They will be so altruistic and fair that they will stop competing.
The consequence of this book (were these ideas popular and believed on a mass scale) will be the willing genetic suicide of the world's most altruistic people. Lol, the West!
Competitive humans won't die off because they won't cooperate with this insane idea. Tribal, collectivist humans won't die off, but they may become even more tricky and dishonest than they already are as they pretend to play along since they know by playing along the altruistic, individualist idiots will actually commit genetic suicide in the name of being "good."
This the Bible for the suicidal West. I wish it had compelling, interesting arguments, but it doesn't. It is simplistic and trite.
Very pretty book though. Love the printing and luxurious space and endless graphs and the expensive graphic design. Wish more books were this pretty.
Despite disagreeing with the fundamental premise of this book, I still wanted to read Salk's arguments. I wanted to know what the "new reality" is. I was expecting to be challenged to consider a convincing point of view different from my own. What I found was: the human race must transform from a competitive species to a non-competitive one.
The idea that humans can be non-competitive is detached from reality. All life on Earth competes with other life for survival. Bacteria compete to survive and breed. Plants compete to survive and breed. Animals compete to survive and breed. But not humans. They are going to... not do that. They are going to change the game of life. They will be so altruistic and fair that they will stop competing.
The consequence of this book (were these ideas popular and believed on a mass scale) will be the willing genetic suicide of the world's most altruistic people. Lol, the West!
Competitive humans won't die off because they won't cooperate with this insane idea. Tribal, collectivist humans won't die off, but they may become even more tricky and dishonest than they already are as they pretend to play along since they know by playing along the altruistic, individualist idiots will actually commit genetic suicide in the name of being "good."
This the Bible for the suicidal West. I wish it had compelling, interesting arguments, but it doesn't. It is simplistic and trite.
Very pretty book though. Love the printing and luxurious space and endless graphs and the expensive graphic design. Wish more books were this pretty.
August 18, 2018
This is an important and though-provoking book. It sets out a rationale for the kind of life I have advocated for during the past 45 years: cooperative, in dynamic, sustainable balance with the environment, seeking win-win solutions through consensus, valuing wellbeing.
I think the concepts of A New Reality need to be understood by the decision-makers of our times, including politicians and the heads of large corporations.
A particularly valuable aspect is that our current world of conflict is explained. We need to understand it in order to transform society.
At the same time, I find it to be completely unrealistic. Like almost all projections from the past to the future, it fails to take into account the fact that we are past the tipping point. The actions that lead to catastrophe are in our past, and we are seeing their consequences unfold, right now.
Current estimates of extinction rates are 1000 times the “background rate.” If Salk & Salk are right and there is a distant future for humanity, their archeologists will probably consider us to be the plasticoferous era. We live on Poison Planet, which is driving a wide range of illnesses, and increases death and suffering.
I wish I could share the authors’ hope. I read the book wishing they could convince me. But certainly while the rulers of humanity are those most to gain from using the rules of the past, there will be great difficulty in transitioning to the rules necessary to have a future.
However, I return to the start. This is a wonderful book, inspirational, simple and logical. It should be necessary reading for everyone.
I think the concepts of A New Reality need to be understood by the decision-makers of our times, including politicians and the heads of large corporations.
A particularly valuable aspect is that our current world of conflict is explained. We need to understand it in order to transform society.
At the same time, I find it to be completely unrealistic. Like almost all projections from the past to the future, it fails to take into account the fact that we are past the tipping point. The actions that lead to catastrophe are in our past, and we are seeing their consequences unfold, right now.
Current estimates of extinction rates are 1000 times the “background rate.” If Salk & Salk are right and there is a distant future for humanity, their archeologists will probably consider us to be the plasticoferous era. We live on Poison Planet, which is driving a wide range of illnesses, and increases death and suffering.
I wish I could share the authors’ hope. I read the book wishing they could convince me. But certainly while the rulers of humanity are those most to gain from using the rules of the past, there will be great difficulty in transitioning to the rules necessary to have a future.
However, I return to the start. This is a wonderful book, inspirational, simple and logical. It should be necessary reading for everyone.
February 18, 2025
Prior to reading this title, I had the misguided idea that human population growth was a constant increase, starting at 1 and gradually increasing to our present 7 billion. The sigmoid curve of our peopling the planet from 1b to 7b only in the last 1-2 hundred years is explained with a myriad of graphs to anticipate our possible survival or extinction futures. True that the options presented do not include interplanetary migration or continued unknowable technological “advances”, but the conceptualizing in graph form was enlightening in itself. The most informative and timely graph would be comparing the demographics of the readers rating this book.
January 20, 2021
It is a very small book. It provides some valuable viewpoints like adapting mentality to the new age, seek collaboration over competition and so on. The whole book is surrounding around an assumption that the human population growth will follow the sigmoid curve. And it was supported by some experiential evidence from animals and microbes. But personally, I will more evidence could be provided and the equilibrium theory could be better explained or supported.
Overall, it is a nice small book. And it does inspire people to think for the long term.
Overall, it is a nice small book. And it does inspire people to think for the long term.
July 5, 2023
The unhistoric and unscientific rewriting of the pro-genocide "Survival of the Wisest" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... is reimagined for the climate-change era, but unfortunately offers little advice other than to value global cooperation over our own wellbeing.
If you want to understand how to help us all survive the coming crisis resulting from climate change, I would recommend something more like George Monbiot's Regenesis - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
If you want to understand how to help us all survive the coming crisis resulting from climate change, I would recommend something more like George Monbiot's Regenesis - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
January 5, 2025
Interesting but ultimately surface-level. Didn’t really learn anything I didn’t learn in AP Human Geography freshman year of high school (and in fact that course explored many more nuances of the topics skimmed in this book). Would have sufficed as an article, did not need a whole print book for this content.
September 13, 2025
A good overview of our opportunities and challenges as a species, how we got here and what we need to think about if we intend to continue.
I was hoping for a more quantitative view, particularly of economic models that can produce expanding collective wealth and progress in a stable population. Read this book for a challenge to change, not a prescription for changes.
I was hoping for a more quantitative view, particularly of economic models that can produce expanding collective wealth and progress in a stable population. Read this book for a challenge to change, not a prescription for changes.
April 14, 2021
Maybe I just didn't "get" the book, but I found it boring and overly simplistic. As someone who works professionally in sustainability this book appeals to a more novice audience.
August 17, 2021
Interesting but not much depth
September 14, 2021
Concise and powerfully presented arguments for getting us through and beyond this very difficult time. This should be required reading in all high schools and by every elected official.
June 4, 2022
I would say this book changed the way I think about the world now. I would definitely recommend.
January 2, 2023
Interesting. Visually appealing. Very high on generalities.
July 24, 2018
Looking Forward with Hope
I look forward to hopefully watching humanity create a more sustainable future as we learn to live with our population growth.
I look forward to hopefully watching humanity create a more sustainable future as we learn to live with our population growth.
December 18, 2019
Vague and riddled with assumptions about the future and human nature, but optimistic nonetheless.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews