Comments by "Jack Haveman" (@JackHaveman52) on "Is the world getting better or worse? A look at the numbers | Steven Pinker" video.

Drake Doragon Yes.....all those negative things are still happening but that's not the point. You're applying individual narratives and then applying it universally. Pinker's point, and he has data to back it up, is that things have been getting better over history and particularly over the last 50 years. He didn't say that things are now PERFECT. He is saying that for the overall planet, things are getting better. As bad as the Korean War was, it's still not nearly as devastating, for the entire planet, than WW2. It's a matter of scale. Hopefully, those things continue to improve over the next 10 years so that the number of people being bombed, tortured, abused or whatever else is LESS than what it is, today. That would be a good thing. Just as it is that the number of people being bombed, tortured, abused or whatever is less than it was 50 years ago is also a good thing. Only the most abject pessimist would say that it's not a good thing and only the most abject optimist would say that things are perfect. Both are seeing thing though a lens of their own making and are refusing to deal with reality.
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I realised that the media was starting to fabricate crisis situations when Natalee Holloway disappeared in Aruba in 2005. It was a terrible thing to have happened to her and her family but it was blown way out of proportion in its significance in world events. 24 hour news coverage with CNN repeatedly questioning its audience in the most dire and pleading of tones with "Is you child safe going on spring break?" Talk about an over reaction. Then, I remembered the fever, in the eighties, of disappearing children. It was announced, in a near panic mode, that each year 1 million children disappeared in America, leaving the impression that they just vanished off the face of the earth. Upon analysis, the numbers included kids who got home late from school and their parents contacted police, kids who told parents they were staying at a friends house and went boozing instead and all kinds of minor incidents that were similar. These were thrown in with the tragic stories and created a state of panic where parents weren't letting their children out of their sight and it has lasted until today. Media hysteria causes more unfounded fear these days than does reality or facts.
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We've always worked. "By the sweat of your brow" was written over 2000 years ago. Every single luxury that you have is due to the sweat of others and yourself. We live in the best times to work in the history of humanity but we just don't appreciate it.
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