I'm a long term optimist. Humanity always gets better, eventually.
The problem is we have short lifespans so small setbacks in humanity's history are significant to those of us alive at that point in time.
I don't think things will be too bad though. Governments are becoming authoritarian but there's already enough resistance and protest, at least in some places.
The future is looking bright. We'll figure out the global warming thing (probably with technology), there's no appetite for large scale war, in many ways the world is becoming closer (thanks to technology). The main obstacle now is inequality, the tyranny of oligarchs and government corruption.
> The problem is we have short lifespans so small setbacks in humanity's history are significant to those of us alive at that point in time.
It is still a reason to be optimistic. Limited individual lifespan is like a regularization term; one particular human can get only so much wise and world-improving; while our optimization goal is multi-generational. Those setbacks might as well be necessary backtracking.
I feel that it is inevitable that we, us, and the state of the world will get better.
We as humans are rational and that is our power. We can choose our thoughts and our feelings. When we choose thoughts of love, compassion and altruism these lead us to actions of love, compassion and altruism.
The Dalai Lama talks about secular mind training. When metacognition and how to choose thoughts and feelings is taught in schools then there is an opportunity to move more people towards a more helpful world. More helpful for our own personal lives and also helpful to others.
Until this happens, I do what I can, which is talk with my friends and family about this. We remind each other that we always have a choice about how we can respond to anything in the external world and we do what we can.
The problem is we have short lifespans so small setbacks in humanity's history are significant to those of us alive at that point in time.
I don't think things will be too bad though. Governments are becoming authoritarian but there's already enough resistance and protest, at least in some places.
The future is looking bright. We'll figure out the global warming thing (probably with technology), there's no appetite for large scale war, in many ways the world is becoming closer (thanks to technology). The main obstacle now is inequality, the tyranny of oligarchs and government corruption.