Perspectives on Human Progress
Guillermina Sutter Schneider |
TEDxRuhrUniversityBochum
• May 2018
Whenever we turn on the news, check-out the internet, or read a magazine, a particular thought seems inevitable: “It’s all getting worse!” No one wants to be pessimistic, but what else could we be in the face of the continuous onslaught of bad news?
Well, we could be realistic for a start. Because, as it turns out, there’s a wide gap between our perception of the state of the world and reality. Never before have levels of extreme poverty been as low as they currently are. Never before has there been less hunger in the world. Per capita income, average life expectancy, and literacy rates have never been higher. By almost any measure, the world is getting better, and this progress has been especially impressive in the developing world.
As Guillermina Sutter Schneider will tell us today, acknowledging the dramatic improvements the world has seen in human well-being is now more important than ever before - both for future progress and our freedom.