I’m writing this at the train station, waiting for a train. Seemed like the right place for it where everyone around me looks faintly annoyed in a world where trains, on the whole, run better than they ever have in human history.
Well, I told some friends this at dinner recently. They did not believe me. Let me try it on you.
Human life span has nearly doubled in a century. Living standards are at record highs. Crime has been falling for decades.
Old age no longer means poverty. Seniors are cared for, financially and medically. Literacy and education are at all-time highs. Pollution is declining generally. The risk of dying violently has never been lower.
We work fewer hours. We have more purchasing power. Goods and services are abundant. Leisure time is up. Flying to the other side of the world costs less, in real terms, than it ever has. Access to art and culture has never been wider.
I’m not selling you a utopia. We do not live in one. The direction of travel is unmistakable. Things are getting better, not worse.
Yet, ask people, and they will tell you the world is going downhill. Their parents had it better. Their kids face a bleaker future. Pollsters hear this constantly.
My friends heard all this and asked the obvious question: if things are so good, why does everyone feel so bad?
I gave them an answer. It had nothing to do with economics, and everything to do with how the human brain is wired to process good news. They went quiet for a moment. Then one of them said, “That is actually a bit unsettling.”