"We humans live by stories. This defining human quality distinguishes us from other intelligent species and gives us a capacity to rapidly change our individual and group behavior in response to changing circumstances. On the downside, when we get our story wrong, the consequences can be devastating. In this extraordinary work, David Korten identifies three cultural stories ways of understanding the world that have contributed to our current economic, political, and environmental crisis. Korten explains how these stories, however arguably well intentioned, have led us to value life by its market value, view nature as a commodity, and see ourselves as separate from our world. To find a path to a viable human future Korten offers a new story, one consonant with both modern science and spiritual traditions, that acknowledges the reality that we are living beings born of a living Earth that itself is born of a living universe. He shows how we can choose our actions and design our institutions based on this understanding"--Publisher's description.