Inspiration

Like most, I read the news often. I browse the major publications every day, I get alerts on my phone for my favorite topics, I check Twitter more than I should, and so on. Information about the world is more accessible than ever. The issue is there is a dramatic incentive for publishers and news providers to provide the news that will get traffic to their site. This often means dramatic headlines for the sake of clicks.

I know I'm not alone when I say the last few years have seemed exceedingly...gloomy. Even P.C. (pre-covid), it felt as if the nation and the world were at each-other's throats. Hate, fear, and a looming sense of dread occupy the front pages daily. Folks get worked up on social media, getting in fights in comment sections (I do enjoy a good read-through of local politics Facebook comment wars). But then, when the screens go away and we go outside for a walk, or to the grocery store, that anger and fear seems to all but disappear. Life is good, but the news is bad.

I am a big fan of Hans Rosling. I highly encourage folks to watch his videos and read his books. A sober dose of reality is actually quite inspiring. History shows us that optimism is the correct stance most of the time, and over the long run especially so. Life expectancy is up, access to healthcare is up, quality of life is up, poverty is down, crime is down, infant mortality is down, and so much more. Yes, there are enormous challenges that lay ahead, but the progress of humankind warrants nothing but optimism for the future.

We, collectively, are badasses, and occasionally we need to be reminded of it. Political stunts, corporate drama, and bad actors will occupy the news most days. This is all just noise. Zooming out from "daily news" to "monthly news" to "yearly news" to "news since we started having it" is important.

At that scale, the progress we've made together is inspiring.

With the increasing access to the internet and the ability to learn from anyone in the world, our progress is just getting started. We are about to hit our inflection point of exponential growth and enter a period of unprecedented progress as a species. Sam Altman calls it Moore's Law for Everything.

I've included some images that particularly inspire me - I hope they inspire you too.