Things are getting better

[REWahoo]

Start out the new year on a positive note:

26 charts and maps that show the world is getting much, much better - Vox

Question: If a gloom & doom type clicks on this link will it make them gloomier or happier?

 

[walkinwood]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[GravitySucks]

Thanks. Always happy to see the good news instead of the doom and gloom.

 

[ejman]

Thank you. Now if we could only have media in general play along...

 

[Free To Canoe]

Answer: Disbelief
Great info, thanks for posting.

 

[Lsbcal]

I'm not so sure about that height chart. Seems I got left behind in the year 1900 according to one height history chart.

Overall it pays to be optimistic. Good thread here.

 

[REWahoo]

Overall it pays to be optimistic.

Unfortunately there is evidence to the contrary - but I'll trade some time for happiness.

Pessimism About the Future May Lead to Longer, Healthier Life, Research Finds

 

[ERD50]

Thanks, very interesting.

One nit to pick - their math (or chart) can't be right:

the teen birth rate has fallen so fast — 38.4 percent annually between 2007 and 2013

I think they need to take out the 'annually'.

And I'm just curious as to why homicide is so much higher in US (though going down, which is good)? I'm guessing 'access to guns' isn't the full answer.

And I'm not too worried if Moore's Law is slowing. Even if progress of that measure slows (number of transistors per chip), there is so much that can be done with the current technology, and improvements made in how it is used and packaged. Software can be improved in efficiency a lot, I think present programming methods have lots of trade-offs.

The chart on Solar power getting cheaper isn't really such great news though. The cost decline of the actual solar cell itself has really flattened, and is now a relatively small part of the overall installed cost. The cost of the other pieces (metal racks, wiring, inverters, labor), are flattening as well, and aren't really candidates for big improvements, and labor will likely go up.

But lots of positives there.

-ERD50

 

[Calico]

Very Encouraging!

Thanks for posting this. Reading this was a great way to start off 2016.

I don't have kids, but most members of my extended family do, and there have been times recently when I have felt quite discouraged about the world they (and all other kids) are inheriting.

I'm feeling more hopeful after reading the charts.

 

[Walt34]

Start out the new year on a positive note:

26 charts and maps that show the world is getting much, much better - Vox

Wow, you really know how to ruin a grouch's day.

Nice to see some good news for a change.

 

[Calico]

Thank you. Now if we could only have media in general play along...

Never going to happen. "If it bleeds, it leads" and variations on that theme. Sad but true.

 

[Midpack]

Good post, thanks. It is encouraging and a little surprising (I would not have guessed #14, but listening to "news" will do that these days?). Wonder how long the trend in #9 will continue, we may all be giants one day.

 

[Walt34]

Thank you. Now if we could only have media in general play along...

One of the reasons I keep a subscription to the local small town newspaper is that they do make an effort to report on the good news, so reading it is not always a downer.

 

[Calico]

One of the reasons I keep a subscription to the local small town newspaper is that they do make an effort to report on the good news, so reading it is not always a downer.

I have a webpage named "Good News" bookmarked, and I try to visit it every day, to counterbalance all the other stuff I hear on a daily basis. It helps.

 

[6miths]

Good charts and subsequent links to individual articles at the end. The world has become safer and generally kinder and gentler place over the years. Hard to convince many of it though, and obviously, still a long way to go.

 

[Lsbcal]

I have a webpage named "Good News" bookmarked, and I try to visit it every day, to counterbalance all the other stuff I hear on a daily basis. It helps.

I make a point of reading the comic strips. Like here:
GoComics.com - Your source for the best online comic strips around.

 

[sengsational]

I read "The Better Angels...", and mention it often when ever people start going on about how the world is going to hell in a hand basket. The book was, let's call it, "thorough" though....took a while to get through. The message was proven quite convincingly.

 

[Calico]

I make a point of reading the comic strips. Like here:
GoComics.com - Your source for the best online comic strips around.

Ahhh, yes! A daily dose of Dilbert always does the trick.

 

[HFWR]

http://youtu.be/y925oc8bnOs

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

And I'm just curious as to why homicide is so much higher in US (though going down, which is good)? I'm guessing 'access to guns' isn't the full answer.

-ERD50

Just a thought, but I think ethnically and culturally homogenous societies seem to be the happiest and most peaceable. Obviously that's not a description of the US of A. Diversity has its advantages as well, but tranquility is not one of them. IMO.

 

[Sunset]

Just a thought, but I think ethnically and culturally homogenous societies seem to be the happiest and most peaceable. Obviously that's not a description of the US of A. Diversity has its advantages as well, but tranquility is not one of them. IMO.

Cannot be the answer as Canada has a very diverse society without the high homicide rates.

Watch any movie and see what answer the hero has for solving conflict, then think how if you lived in Canada, you can easily reach for a bat/knife/club. It does not feel the same and its not what the hero used....

Easy access can lead impulsive folks to bad actions.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Cannot be the answer as Canada has a very diverse society without the high homicide rates.

Watch any movie and see what answer the hero has for solving conflict, then think how if you lived in Canada, you can easily reach for a bat/knife/club. It does not feel the same and its not what the hero used....

Easy access can lead impulsive folks to bad actions.

Hm, wikipedia says 19.07% of Canada's population is of a "visible minority" -- black, East Asian, South Asian, Arab, etc., etc. The demographic numbers in the entry for the US says 62% of our population is white non-Hispanic. The numbers don't correspond directly, but I surmise from them that the US population is twice as ethnically diverse as Canada's. Wikipedia isn't the last word on such research, but ...

I do agree that Canada is a peaceable country, and I've always felt safe there (although I did get panhandled pretty aggressively once in Vancouver).

 

[Closet_Gamer]

Start out the new year on a positive note:

26 charts and maps that show the world is getting much, much better - Vox

Question: If a gloom & doom type clicks on this link will it make them gloomier or happier?

Very cool. Thanks!

 

[rayinpenn]

Unfortunately there is evidence to the contrary - but I'll trade some time for happiness.



Pessimism About the Future May Lead to Longer, Healthier Life, Research Finds

I think I too will choose to ignore the evidence to the contrary


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum.

 

[cooch96]

"The End of Doom," by Ronald Bailey, is another uplifting book. He focuses on how current trends of human innovation and technology are likely to improve the big world problems of today (ecology, human population growth, etc.).

I definitely recommend that book and Plinker's, "The better Angels of our Nature".