As a collective, humanity has made itself healthier, safer, more equal, and more knowledgeable. We’ve built institutions that leveled the playing field, we've peeked into the microscopic world to make ourselves live longer, we peered beyond our blue dot and gasped at the weirdness of it all.
Our ability to understand and control the world has meant that so far we've steered away from the near-inevitable wave of rolling genocide that targets other species - ones that rely only on their gene knowledge.
What we have achieved is only shadowed by the possibilities of what we can do next. Yet, there is a growing pessimism among some in our society. When faced with challenges like climate change, increased consumption in a world with limited resources, loss of biodiversity, or pollution, we jump to blaming ourselves and our way of life. If only we’d slow down economic growth, limit air travel, not have so many babies, it would all be fine.
The problem with this line of reasoning is that it achieves very little. We will always be faced with the problem of how to plan for an unknowable future. We will never be able to afford to sit back and hope for the best. Instead, we must be armed with better means to fix whatever challenges come at us. Less people, less wealth, means fewer resources to solve them. The way to make progress is by solving problems, not avoiding them.
We should be prouder and more optimistic: a better future lies in exploiting our creativity to make ourselves more resilient. We should look to the future with hope and a certainty that, at least, we can do better.
People are the cure, not the disease.