Optimism

Again reading from the Mars trilogy, I came across a section where one of the characters was paraphrasing John Boone - the first person to step foot on Mars - in an effort to defend his own optimistic world view. Boone believed that there was a trend towards improvement in collective human society, and this is something I have thought myself when confronted with the not-unpopular belief that this 'human experiment' will all end in flames. Such an apocalyptic vision of the future is easy to understand; quickly browse the latest headlines to see why. Lets have a look:


"Thousands flee Syria in one day"
"Guatemala earthquake death toll rises to 52"
"Dead and injured in Gaza flare-Up"
"Conservatives commit $16M to 'action plan' ads while cutting programs"
"Fielding pens third Bridget Jones"

Okay, I haven't seen or read any Bridget Jones, so I should suspend judgement there.
Actually, today's headlines are perhaps tame, relatively speaking, though I'm sure if I delved beyond the mainstream I would find things more horrifying still. And, of course, all it takes for the ultimate nasty headline to appear is for the wrong buttons to get pushed, if you take my meaning.

But, maybe we are just too close. Maybe if we took a step back we'd see that things are indeed better today than they were 50 years ago - all glorifying of the 'good old days' notwithstanding - and certainly better than they were 150 years ago; if you doubt this than you're probably white and male. Five hundred years ago and we are truly getting into a dark period; go further back still and you might count yourself lucky to live to the ripe old age of 40 - luckier still if you managed to avoid the sword.

I think we need to be optimistic, we need to stay positive. I know this may sound naive, but I believe it. I'd rather live expecting the best, only to be surprised by nuclear holocaust, then dread Armageddon until the day I take leave from this pale blue dot.