Will there be a breakdown, or a breakthrough?

Amid the ancient hills of Tuscany, the cradle of the Renaissance and once the breadbasket of Rome, two of the world’s preeminent scholars embark on a six-day discourse investigating the looming threats facing our planet and our species. This conversation between Ervin Laszlo and Michael Tobias delves deep into matters ranging from science and philosophy to the arts and metaphysics. The objective behind their endeavor is to determine whether we can rectify the profound ecological crisis menacing our planet with a massive loss of biodiversity—including our own extinction.

What is the destiny of humankind? This is an open-ended question. Its significance is deeply connected with the course of evolution and the study of consciousness. This far-reaching inquiry of these immense problems does not intend to offer any sort of “magic bullet” solution. As Dr. Laszlo puts it, the authors’ exchange is “meant to be a catalyst that would inspire others to come forward with their own thoughts, hunches, hopes, and intuitions,” a path to transport the reader from the role of passive observer to one of active participant in the critical mission presented in The Tuscany Dialogues.