The Case for Optimism

One sees concern and pessimism on social media and amongst friends everyday about many things- Covid, our descent into authoritarianism, crime.  Perhaps the 2nd point below is most salient.  Instantaneous information flow and related transparency may be driving us into a stressful craziness.  Meanwhile progress occurs drip by drip.  Am not suggesting walling oneself off but for good news or cute cat photography but if one delves into the progress being made in realms there are tremendous causes for optimism.

From WarpNews:

"...1) Progress is mostly about what does not happen. Progress means a 92-year-old who did not die today, a boy who was not robbed on his way to school, a 12-year girl who is not married to a 30-year old man, etc. What did not happen does not make the news. The best parts of civilization don’t get headlined.

2) Bad things happen fast, while good things take longer. So when we ask what has happened in the last news cycle (the last five minutes) only fast moving things show up, which are mostly bad news. Good takes longer than a news cycle. So most news, in any media, even responsible ones, is bad news. If newspapers and websites were only updated every 50 years, they might report: literacy is up, longevity increased, violence is down.

3) The solutions to most problems will create new problems. But if we can create 1% more solutions than problems, that 1% compounded over decades equals civilization. However 1% of almost anything is invisible in the now, lost in the noise. Such a small differential is really only visible in accumulation and seen in retrospect...

...The[r]e are the good reasons to be optimistic at any time we can. But besides these general reasons there are particular reasons to be optimistic right now in 2021...

...Total Urbanization...Universal Connectivity...Ubiquitous AI...Sustainable Energy...Accelerated Innovation...Bio-engineering...Generational Handoff..."

 https://www.warpnews.org/premium-content/kevin-kelly-the-case-for-optimism/

 From 1/20/21:

From 1/10/21: 

An emotional week, Arnold delivers a fantastic summation of the implications and opportunity this week presents. There are too many amidst my FB network who desperately need to step back and ask themselves what they are doing. Some must ask what are they doing embracing conspiracy and falsehoods to the point where they are directly aligned with those literally threatening violence? Others must ask do their views on “policy” mean they will rationalize supporting those who would overturn democracy. I have tried to engage friends and family sometimes on- but often off-line, it has been humbling to discover how far the rot of intellectual incuriosity and willingness to discard any perspectives but for those provided by the demagogue in the White House or belching fire in the media (i.e. Dan Bongino et al.) have penetrated. We stared into the abyss this week, it was not pretty; but hopefully Schwarzenegger’s tempering of the sword analogy will hold true.

From 1/6/21 

"Our Constitution and our Republic will overcome this stain and We the People will come together again in our never-ending effort to form a more perfect Union, while Mr. Trump will deservedly be left a man without a country.” -- James Mattis. 1/6/21

I have seen numerous Trump supporting conservative politicians and commentators express disgust with the breach of the Capitol today. One could say too little too late or perhaps better late than never. But what I have not seen is a single Trump supporter amongst my FB network express their disgust (the “I do not condone violence buh Antifa, buh buh BLM”, does not suffice). Furthermore, as best I can tell while only a minority of the conservatives I see on FB have shown direct support for sedition (although some explicitly have), not one has in the past two months acknowledged enough is enough with the spurious accusations and outright fantasies regarding fraud. Not one. Others have said similar things but this dynamic where I am learning how deep and broad the cancer of truth decay has become, saddens me even more than seeing Trump in the oval office. Trust me I feel the disdain from certain friends and family, it is what it is at this point but I believe it says much more about thee than me.