As a whole, yes. We’ve managed to make it this far, and have strived for progress the whole time. On an individual level, absolutely not.
Based on my own experiences and readings, I’d guesstimate that a good 10% of people are genuinely evil, and another 50% are morons. I would absolutely not bet on those odds when trying to get help. Still, that leaves another 40% who are decent enough to want good, and smart enough to act on it.
I don’t think its changed significantly, but I also do think the impacts (good and bad) have become more far-reaching, and the bad esspecially has become more visible.
We’ve always had a generally evil ruling class, and that evil always ranged from “just” stealing from the populus to genocide and torturing people for fun (just as today). Unlike historically, we’re just aware of all of it, whereas a serf would barely know what their own lord was like, nonetheless one on the other side of the world. We’ve also always had those willing to work to build a better future. In the past, this was mostly limited to giving food and money, usually organized by religions organizations, and this continues, but we also now have thousands of other non-profits and tools, made and maintained by talented people who just want a better world. Think of all the people making educational videos, articles, software and more and giving it away for cheap or for free. Things like Wikipedia, VLC, and others would have caved to the rich and powerful decades ago if not for the fact that they’re committed to making the world better.
I realize now that there’s two interpretations here; faith in humanity’s goodness, and faith in humanity’s survival.
I like your take—that it’s probably the same set of people but we’re aware of more of people globally. I’d say since systems heavily shape people, it depends how those evolve over time. Hard to say whether we’re better or worse off than before in terms of systems mostly shaping good or bad traits in people. Total shot on the dark but I think on the whole we have better systems. The historical trend line looks positive in the equitable and empowering direction.
For survival I unfortunately think the probability decreases over time as we command more energy and climate altering technology. Fewer people than ever can do more damage than ever. I think there will always be humans on earth, but they may have to restart civilization. Ugh.
As a whole, yes. We’ve managed to make it this far, and have strived for progress the whole time. On an individual level, absolutely not.
Based on my own experiences and readings, I’d guesstimate that a good 10% of people are genuinely evil, and another 50% are morons. I would absolutely not bet on those odds when trying to get help. Still, that leaves another 40% who are decent enough to want good, and smart enough to act on it.
Do you think those proportions got worse? Or that the severity of evilness or idiocy increased since the past?
I have my doubts. I think the 40% (it’s probably even lower) has taken us this far, and has a chance to continue.
I don’t think its changed significantly, but I also do think the impacts (good and bad) have become more far-reaching, and the bad esspecially has become more visible.
We’ve always had a generally evil ruling class, and that evil always ranged from “just” stealing from the populus to genocide and torturing people for fun (just as today). Unlike historically, we’re just aware of all of it, whereas a serf would barely know what their own lord was like, nonetheless one on the other side of the world. We’ve also always had those willing to work to build a better future. In the past, this was mostly limited to giving food and money, usually organized by religions organizations, and this continues, but we also now have thousands of other non-profits and tools, made and maintained by talented people who just want a better world. Think of all the people making educational videos, articles, software and more and giving it away for cheap or for free. Things like Wikipedia, VLC, and others would have caved to the rich and powerful decades ago if not for the fact that they’re committed to making the world better.
I realize now that there’s two interpretations here; faith in humanity’s goodness, and faith in humanity’s survival.
I like your take—that it’s probably the same set of people but we’re aware of more of people globally. I’d say since systems heavily shape people, it depends how those evolve over time. Hard to say whether we’re better or worse off than before in terms of systems mostly shaping good or bad traits in people. Total shot on the dark but I think on the whole we have better systems. The historical trend line looks positive in the equitable and empowering direction.
For survival I unfortunately think the probability decreases over time as we command more energy and climate altering technology. Fewer people than ever can do more damage than ever. I think there will always be humans on earth, but they may have to restart civilization. Ugh.