7 Reasons Why The Future Of Humanity Looks So Hopeful

Over the past year I have seen two conflicting stories evolve in the media. The first is about the quantifiable evil activities of many tech corporations, like Amazon treating workers poorly or Uber creating a toxic masculine culture or Facebook standing idly by while others misuse their data. This Silicon Valley powered evil was chronicled in several powerful books this year, including Lab Rats, Bad Blood, Bullshit Jobs and Technically Wrong and others.

The second story, though, is far more hopeful and has 7 reasons to feel a sense of hope. It includes sobering analysis about how (1) fears of overpopulation may be overblown, and genius ideas for (2) putting sensors on bumblebees to improve agriculture and help us study the world. Scientists have figured out how to (3) plant clones of ancient redwood trees, measure planets that were (4) once far too distant to detect, develop a new powder that can (5) capture carbon dioxide before it reaches the atmosphere, use drones to (6) deliver life saving vaccines and even (7) build a prosthetic limb that allows kids to be master chefs.

Even as social media and ecommerce threatens to make us greedier and lonelier, other technology is making life better and safer. Yes, it’s a contrast and perhaps I’m being too hard on the big tech brands. But after spending the week reading and collecting all these stories, I am feeling deeply optimistic about the future.