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/