Science & Technology

The Spiritual Wisdom We Need for a Planet in Crisis | Tariq Al-Olaimy | TED

Published

7 months ago

January 27, 2026

As cascading climate challenges reshape our world, the most resilient systems are ones we often overlook. Ecological futurist Tariq Al-Olaimy has seen this firsthand in disaster-stricken communities, where church basements, mosque yards and temple networks form a “spiritual infrastructure” that sustains people long before formal aid arrives. Drawing on a decade of work with global faith coalitions, Al-Olaimy explores why spiritual traditions are uniquely equipped to navigate moments of collapse — and how aligning our inner values, economies and ecosystems may be essential to restoring life on a changing planet. (Recorded at TED Countdown Summit 2025 on June 18, 2025)

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10 Comments

@savag3salad813

January 27, 2026 at 11:11 am

FIRST

Reply
@MikkiThai13

January 27, 2026 at 11:15 am

SECOND

Reply
@FinalEyes777

January 27, 2026 at 11:26 am

so faith traditions are at the root of destroying truth, reason, politics, and possibly the environment and civilization, and… we need to look to faith traditions to rebuild in the ashes they created? lol no thanks. I’ll just stick to truth which gave birth to both science and religion anyways.

Reply
- @maryamw-d7l
  
  January 27, 2026 at 8:42 pm
  
  But how would you know what the truth is?
  
  Reply
- @FinalEyes777
  
  January 27, 2026 at 8:53 pm
  
  @maryamw-d7l do what? Is it true that 1=1 or that you are yourself or that a triangle has 3 sides?
  
  Everyone knows what truth is, until someone convinces them they dont.
  
  Reply
@ExistentialWolf

January 27, 2026 at 11:36 am

Interesting perspective, not withstanding the _lingo._ As a Catholic we believe that self struggle is rooted in one’s divergence from the core belief. The belief that you are on the right path to meet the maker. We believe you should always act for the good of everyone, and you will find comfort in your place. The value of more is only a consideration of everyone’s future. 🤣🤗🤪

Reply
@fractalflight5752

January 27, 2026 at 1:20 pm

I use a “contradiction key” – It Is, It Is not, Both, Neither, All, None. You can ask yourself any question imaginable and run it through this function. It nearly always produces an expansion of perception. For example, “Is the world in danger right now?”. It clarifies the vagueness of the question immediately. So more specific, “Is there reason for fear?”, Becomes, “Is there reason”… A question becomes simply “?”. The funniest solution is simply straightening out the question mark, “!”.

Reply
@506_egyrizalfajarmuharram7

January 27, 2026 at 1:51 pm

✋

Reply
@fluenteducation-abs

January 27, 2026 at 2:22 pm

I am from n
Bangladesh

Reply
@ahmadjonovvvvv

January 30, 2026 at 3:08 am

Faith
Thresholds
Contraction
Evolution
Consquential
Eldery couples
Poltitical leaders
Climate
Disposable
Arbitrarily
Resonating
Luminous
Posiblity
Diagnosis
Unravels
Invitation
Collapse
Preservation
Climate emergany
Primarily
Systematic solution
Devastated communities
Deepest resilience
Demonstrate
Contradiction
Imaginable
Expanasion
Perception

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1:02 TechCrunch Disrupt and the Startup Battlefield 200
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14:47 Why Stripe just paid $7.5B for “the Stripe for AI”
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