The Best Time to Be Alive | 5-Minute Videos

are you worried about your future worse do you even have a future many especially those born in this Century are asking themselves these questions in 2021 researchers at the University of bath in England pulled 10 000 people all over the world between the ages of 16 and 25. 75 thought that the future is frightening 56 thought that humanity is coming to an end 39 stated that they were hesitant to have children because the future was so Bleak at their fears legitimate or is it possible there is another side a brighter side to the story that we are in fact the most fortunate human beings ever just how lucky are we the late great satirist PJ O'Rourke summed it up in one word Dentistry one could easily add electricity air conditioning and lest we forget indoor plumbing Louis xiv's magnificent Palace of Versailles had no proper waste facilities people relieved themselves where they stood in hallways behind curtains and in the gardens one contemporary Observer noted that Versailles was the receptacle of all of Humanity's Horrors the passageways corridors and Courtyards are filled with urine and fecal matter this is Louis XIV we are talking about maybe the richest man on Earth at the time ask yourself this question would you prefer to live in a studio apartment with electricity a window air conditioner and indoor plumbing or a Versailles Palace with none of these things in 19th century London American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson observed that no one wore white shirts the pollution indoors turned everything black here's another blessing antibiotics in 1924 Calvin Coolidge Jr the son of the president of the United States died from a blister from playing tennis on the White House Court many of the best doctors of the day were consulted multiple diagnostic tests were run and he was admitted to one of the top hospitals in the country Chelsea fought my colleague at the Cato Institute has written yet he died within a week of infection that's from infection of a minor cut or blister were extremely common at the time and no amount of wealth or power could save a patient in almost every way life is materially better than what it was in the past and not just a distant past either in 1997 a 42-inch TV screen cost fifteen thousand dollars today you can buy one for under two hundred dollars so why aren't we more excited about the future and the new wonders that await us there because human beings are born complainers negative emotions are much more powerful and longer lasting than positive ones that's just the way we are wired but the truth is that if you are living today you are the beneficiary of countless life enhancements and not just in developed countries almost everywhere consider the following Global statistics between 1950 and 2020 the average inflation adjusted income per person Rose over 300 percent between 1960 and 2023 the average life expectancy Rose 46 from 50 years to 73 years between 1961 and 2017 the daily supply of calories Rose 38 from 2100 to 2900. today even in Africa obesity is a growing concern worried about the environment there is plenty of good news there too chance of a person dying in a natural catastrophe earthquake flood drought storm Wildfire or Landslide fell by almost 99 of the last century between 1982 and 2016 the global tree canopy cover increased by an area larger than Alaska and Montana combined in 2017 the world database on protected areas reported that 15 of the planet's land surface was covered by protected areas that's an area almost double the size of the United States with so much good news around us why are we so gloomy a part of the problem is primeval we have developed to be on the lookout for danger that was the best way to survive when being eaten by a saber-toothed tiger was a real possibility but while the world has changed our genes have not and our genes are programmed for danger the media plays on our fears social media has it down to a science as one study recently found for a headline of average length each additional negative word increase the click-through rate by 2.3 percent and so in a fierce competition for eyeballs the sky is falling every day all day we are literally scaring ourselves to death with rates of anxiety depression and even suicide arising in some parts of the world so then how can you maintain your mental composure and keep matters in perspective here is the answer follow the trend lines not the headlines not only will that put you in a better frame of mind it will put you closer to the truth and the truth is you have a lot to look forward to I'm Marianne tupi senior fellow at the Cato Institute and co-author of super abundance for Prague University thank you for watching this video to keep prageru videos free please consider making a tax deductible donation