Things are Good

The following is the transcript of my troop deployment (i.e. ending rant) from episode 73 of my news podcast The Mind Killer. If you like it, please consider subscribing to the podcast

If you attended a rationalist solstice this year, you probably noticed that the theme of such gatherings is generally, on the darkest day of the year, to face the darkness. To confront everything bad about the world and our lives, and try to remain hopeful. This is a fine thing to do once a year, but I think we may be doing it too often. I’ve talked before about how news sources are incentivized to report negative news sources, but it’s not just them. Activist groups tend to be allergic to good news and constantly signal-boosting every bad thing that could possibly reinforce their narrative. And even most individuals I know tend to focus on how bad everything is. This is especially stark at New Years. Instead of celebrating the new year, I see most people bidding good riddance to the old one. 

This made sense for 2020 and to some extent 2021. Those were weird years. But things are mostly back to normal now, and things are pretty good! They’re not perfect. We’re not at the glorious post-scarcity transhumanist utopian future yet. But things are better than they’ve ever been, at least in the US. Median income is up. Household wealth is up. Unemployment is low. Inflation was bad for a while, but it’s falling every month and likely to normal soon. 

Technology keeps improving. Smartphones continue to be the most amazing, life-changing piece of technology of the last 30 years. Computers get faster and more functional every year. Electric cars are selling too fast to stay in stock, and in a few cities they are driving themselves. Video games are incredible. mRNA vaccines have already changed the world. 

Next time you find yourself thinking that the world has gone to hell or whatever, ask yourself this: if you could go back and live in any year in the past that you wanted, which one would you pick? I bet you’d pick this one, because this one is the best! If you don’t, it’s probably because you forgot what the past was actually like. Maybe spend five minutes actually trying to remember. 

So instead of facing the darkness all the time, how about we try to face the light. Take a W for once. Let’s acknowledge how good we have it. It’s a lot less trendy to do, but it’s more accurate and much more helpful. And if you’re one of those people who feels compelled to whine about how terrible everything is, maybe try keeping it to yourself. You’re bringing everyone down.