Progress is real and uneven

Two errors distort how we think about progress.

The first is believing that nothing improves because suffering still exists. The second is believing that improvement is automatic because many things have improved before.

Progress is real. More people can live longer, learn more, communicate further, and access capabilities once reserved for a few. Progress is also uneven, reversible, and capable of creating new forms of harm.

Optimism should not mean confidence that things will work out. It should mean confidence that human action can make them better, combined with attention to how they can become worse.