“My job as a musician is to seed hope: when I consider the future, I see tremendous possibility,” writes cellist Yo-Yo Ma last Thursday (1/11) on the World Economic Forum’s website. (The Forum takes place January 23-26 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland). “But I’m also concerned. The good news is that human knowledge is advancing at a faster rate than ever before. The bad news is that, given the pace of change, we might not always proceed in ways that are best for people…. I’ve played the cello for more than five decades, and over the years, I’ve discovered that humans invented culture for a reason: it gives us an evolutionary advantage. As we make our way toward an unknown future, culture has a crucial role to play in our survival.… Music is the prism through which I found the code to strangers’ inner lives and learned to trust them as neighbors…. We need to put culture first, because it is the only way to make sure that the decisions we make as a global society are actually good for humanity. It is no exaggeration to say that our survival depends on it.”
Posted January 18, 2018
