Unfortunately, CO2 emissions are increasing apace. Until the Keeling curve turns over, we’re screwed. Period.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the increase in average lifespan largely due to the drop in childhood death?
Fun Fact: British India had 12 famines during a ~200 year rule
Since Independence, India has had 0 famines
Most people actually are incorrect about the state of the world.
They believe the world sucks, and the believe it is getting worse (this is a scientifically measured/demonstrated fact, [with studies and all](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm5xF-UYgdg) ).
**The WORLD is GETTING BETTER**, and fast.
But because bad news sells better than good news, the media shows us a false world that doesn’t really exists, and in which everything is going terribly.
Here are **just a few**, a small sample, of the ways life has gotten better for humans on Earth recently:
“` Lower infant mortality rates Longer life expectancy Access to clean drinking water Vaccination against deadly diseases Literacy rates Availability of diverse food options Indoor plumbing and sanitation Workplace safety standards Reduced extreme poverty Universal primary education Gender equality in education and employment Decline in infectious disease deaths Pain management techniques Mental health awareness and treatment Air quality in urban areas Food safety regulations Child labor laws Maternal health during pregnancy and childbirth Access to information and knowledge Public transportation systems Affordable travel options Refrigeration for food preservation Work-life balance considerations Disability rights and accessibility LGBTQ+ rights and acceptance Racial equality progress Democratization of many countries Human rights recognition Freedom of speech protections Religious tolerance Decline in global warfare Reduction in violent crime rates Consumer protection laws Financial literacy education Retirement savings options Workers’ rights and labor laws Childhood nutrition programs Early childhood education Adult continuing education opportunities Global communication ease Multicultural understanding Environmental protection efforts Wildlife conservation Renewable energy adoption Waste management and recycling Urban green spaces Noise pollution reduction efforts Food fortification to prevent deficiencies Organ transplantation techniques Cancer survival rates HIV/AIDS treatment Prosthetic limb technology Assistive devices for disabilities Dental care and oral health Vision correction options Hearing aid advancements Physical fitness awareness Smoking cessation support Alcohol and drug addiction treatment Road safety measures Building safety codes Fire prevention and firefighting capabilities Natural disaster preparedness Weather forecasting accuracy Time-saving household appliances Flexible work arrangements Parental leave policies Childcare options Elder care services Pet health and veterinary care Animal welfare laws Public libraries and access to books Museums and cultural institutions Arts and music education Sports and recreation facilities Public parks and playgrounds Farmer’s markets and local food movements Coffee and tea quality and variety Craft and hobby supplies availability Home entertainment options Social connectivity platforms Language learning resources Travel experiences and tourism Personal finance management tools Online shopping convenience Same-day delivery services Ride-sharing and transportation alternatives Smart home energy management Water conservation techniques Sustainable agriculture practices Fair trade product availability Ergonomic workplace designs Noise-cancelling technology Air conditioning and heating efficiency Natural and organic product options Personalized medicine approaches Telemedicine and remote healthcare Digital privacy awareness Cybersecurity measures Space exploration and scientific discoveries “`
Of course, some stuff has gotten worse too, like climate change and species dissapearing, but even on those fronts we’re making a change in the right directions, and science/technology discoveries consistently accelerates progress/helps develop solutions, consistently faster than is expected (ie studies predicting what’s going to happen tend to always underestimate how much research/discoveries will help, meaning they’ve been, these past decades, almost always too pessimistic. A great example is solar panel pricing, same for batteries, but there are plenty of other examples).
Of course, life still sucks for some people, all of this is about averages.
This is **by far** the best time to be born for a human, yet most people believe the opposite.
We are losing a billion people in extreme poverty per decade, 95+% of the world has a smartphone/access to the internet (and therefore education), and increasing fast, this is life-changing, we are entering an era of prosperity that would have seemed like science-fiction only a few decades back…
If you have the choice between being born a billionaire 100 years ago, or an average person today, and you don’t choose the latter, you **DO NOT** understand what life was like before you.
You might or might not believe we’re headed for an era of abundance thanks to AI and robotics, right now that’s still a matter of opinion, there’s no way to know. But even if **that** doesn’t happen, just the **current** pace of progress, is going to mean some incredible things for the current generations and the ones to come.
We are **SO INCREDIBLY** lucky to be born now.
Yet most (incorrectly) believe the exact opposite.
And suffer for it. Unfairly.
This is the weirdest bot account I’ve seen.
Is it possible to improve for the worse?
Pretty sure less than $5 a day is considered ‘extreme’ so no change there.
There are more of us, living longer… ok, that’s great and all, but more humans does not mean a better world. Overpopulation is a problem, I have seen it in my corner of the world, I feel like there are too many humans.
Half of these charts don’t really show anything that is a direct ‘improvement’ to the world. Cheaper batteries? seriously?
All it takes is one nuclear bomb
“The Rational Optimist Society”, a subsidiary of Status Quo Ltd, a joint venture of Saudi Aramco and the Problem Solvers Caucus
![[OC] 8 charts showing how the world is improving](https://www.europesays.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ngbfdly0w1jd1-1080x1024.png)
10 comments
I made the presentation myself.
Chart sources:
[https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-of-population-in-extreme-poverty?tab=chart](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-of-population-in-extreme-poverty?tab=chart)
[https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality#:~:text=months%20of%20life-,Child%20mortality%20rates%20have%20declined%20substantially%20over%20history,reaching%20the%20end%20of%20puberty](https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality#:~:text=months%20of%20life-,Child%20mortality%20rates%20have%20declined%20substantially%20over%20history,reaching%20the%20end%20of%20puberty)
[https://ourworldindata.org/famines](https://ourworldindata.org/famines)
[https://ourworldindata.org/life-expectancy](https://ourworldindata.org/life-expectancy)
[https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions](https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions)
[https://ourworldindata.org/renewable-energy](https://ourworldindata.org/renewable-energy)
[https://ourworldindata.org/battery-price-decline](https://ourworldindata.org/battery-price-decline)
[https://www.wsj.com/articles/climate-activists-disasters-fire-storms-deaths-change-cop26-glasgow-global-warming-11635973538](https://www.wsj.com/articles/climate-activists-disasters-fire-storms-deaths-change-cop26-glasgow-global-warming-11635973538)
Unfortunately, CO2 emissions are increasing apace. Until the Keeling curve turns over, we’re screwed. Period.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the increase in average lifespan largely due to the drop in childhood death?
Fun Fact: British India had 12 famines during a ~200 year rule
Since Independence, India has had 0 famines
Most people actually are incorrect about the state of the world.
They believe the world sucks, and the believe it is getting worse (this is a scientifically measured/demonstrated fact, [with studies and all](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm5xF-UYgdg) ).
**The WORLD is GETTING BETTER**, and fast.
But because bad news sells better than good news, the media shows us a false world that doesn’t really exists, and in which everything is going terribly.
Here are **just a few**, a small sample, of the ways life has gotten better for humans on Earth recently:
“`
Lower infant mortality rates
Longer life expectancy
Access to clean drinking water
Vaccination against deadly diseases
Literacy rates
Availability of diverse food options
Indoor plumbing and sanitation
Workplace safety standards
Reduced extreme poverty
Universal primary education
Gender equality in education and employment
Decline in infectious disease deaths
Pain management techniques
Mental health awareness and treatment
Air quality in urban areas
Food safety regulations
Child labor laws
Maternal health during pregnancy and childbirth
Access to information and knowledge
Public transportation systems
Affordable travel options
Refrigeration for food preservation
Work-life balance considerations
Disability rights and accessibility
LGBTQ+ rights and acceptance
Racial equality progress
Democratization of many countries
Human rights recognition
Freedom of speech protections
Religious tolerance
Decline in global warfare
Reduction in violent crime rates
Consumer protection laws
Financial literacy education
Retirement savings options
Workers’ rights and labor laws
Childhood nutrition programs
Early childhood education
Adult continuing education opportunities
Global communication ease
Multicultural understanding
Environmental protection efforts
Wildlife conservation
Renewable energy adoption
Waste management and recycling
Urban green spaces
Noise pollution reduction efforts
Food fortification to prevent deficiencies
Organ transplantation techniques
Cancer survival rates
HIV/AIDS treatment
Prosthetic limb technology
Assistive devices for disabilities
Dental care and oral health
Vision correction options
Hearing aid advancements
Physical fitness awareness
Smoking cessation support
Alcohol and drug addiction treatment
Road safety measures
Building safety codes
Fire prevention and firefighting capabilities
Natural disaster preparedness
Weather forecasting accuracy
Time-saving household appliances
Flexible work arrangements
Parental leave policies
Childcare options
Elder care services
Pet health and veterinary care
Animal welfare laws
Public libraries and access to books
Museums and cultural institutions
Arts and music education
Sports and recreation facilities
Public parks and playgrounds
Farmer’s markets and local food movements
Coffee and tea quality and variety
Craft and hobby supplies availability
Home entertainment options
Social connectivity platforms
Language learning resources
Travel experiences and tourism
Personal finance management tools
Online shopping convenience
Same-day delivery services
Ride-sharing and transportation alternatives
Smart home energy management
Water conservation techniques
Sustainable agriculture practices
Fair trade product availability
Ergonomic workplace designs
Noise-cancelling technology
Air conditioning and heating efficiency
Natural and organic product options
Personalized medicine approaches
Telemedicine and remote healthcare
Digital privacy awareness
Cybersecurity measures
Space exploration and scientific discoveries
“`
Of course, some stuff has gotten worse too, like climate change and species dissapearing, but even on those fronts we’re making a change in the right directions, and science/technology discoveries consistently accelerates progress/helps develop solutions, consistently faster than is expected (ie studies predicting what’s going to happen tend to always underestimate how much research/discoveries will help, meaning they’ve been, these past decades, almost always too pessimistic. A great example is solar panel pricing, same for batteries, but there are plenty of other examples).
Of course, life still sucks for some people, all of this is about averages.
This is **by far** the best time to be born for a human, yet most people believe the opposite.
We are losing a billion people in extreme poverty per decade, 95+% of the world has a smartphone/access to the internet (and therefore education), and increasing fast, this is life-changing, we are entering an era of prosperity that would have seemed like science-fiction only a few decades back…
If you have the choice between being born a billionaire 100 years ago, or an average person today, and you don’t choose the latter, you **DO NOT** understand what life was like before you.
You might or might not believe we’re headed for an era of abundance thanks to AI and robotics, right now that’s still a matter of opinion, there’s no way to know. But even if **that** doesn’t happen, just the **current** pace of progress, is going to mean some incredible things for the current generations and the ones to come.
We are **SO INCREDIBLY** lucky to be born now.
Yet most (incorrectly) believe the exact opposite.
And suffer for it. Unfairly.
This is the weirdest bot account I’ve seen.
Is it possible to improve for the worse?
Pretty sure less than $5 a day is considered ‘extreme’ so no change there.
There are more of us, living longer… ok, that’s great and all, but more humans does not mean a better world. Overpopulation is a problem, I have seen it in my corner of the world, I feel like there are too many humans.
Half of these charts don’t really show anything that is a direct ‘improvement’ to the world. Cheaper batteries? seriously?
All it takes is one nuclear bomb
“The Rational Optimist Society”, a subsidiary of Status Quo Ltd, a joint venture of Saudi Aramco and the Problem Solvers Caucus