“Was the past good or bad? Are we on the right track or the wrong one? Is life getting better or worse? These questions are easy to ask—pollsters and politicians love asking them—but surprisingly hard to answer. Most historical and statistical evidence shows that life used to be shorter, sicker, poorer, more dangerous, and less free. Yet many people have fond memories of bygone years, and wonder if reports of their awfulness have been exaggerated. Others concede that life used to be worse in some ways, but wonder if it wasn’t also better in others—simpler, more predictable, more spiritual. It’s common to appreciate modernity while fearing its destructive potential. (Life expectancy may be higher today, but it will be shorter after the nuclear-climate-bioterror apocalypse.) If being alive now doesn’t feel particularly great, perhaps living in the past might not have felt particularly bad. Maybe human existence in most times and places is a mixed bag….”
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"If you watch the news, you're bound to think things are pretty darn bad. If you look at statistics, especially those around quality of life, war, freedom, etc, you are likely to see that things are better than they used to be. If you look at the racial injustice, climate change, and political leadership, you'll probably feel pretty grim. However, if you hear the spiritual rhetoric about the evolution of consciousness, great awakening, birthing of a new age, etc, you may feel optimism once more. In short, 'better' and 'worse' are dualistic, subjective terms. They are not concrete - rather, they depend on your vantage point. The only common denominator is that there is great change, just as...

“When you read the news, sometimes it can feel like the only things reported are terrible, depressing events. Why does the media concentrate on the bad things in life, rather than the good? And what might this depressing slant say about us, the audience?…”
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