Upside: Surprising GOOD NEWS About the State of Our World - Book Review

Hunger and poverty are increasing, people are working longer hours, crime is worsening, and violence worldwide is rising. In short, the world is going to hell in a handbasket. So goes the common wisdom. But the common wisdom is wrong. Long-time readers of the Kruse Kronicle who have read my series on American Social Indicators and World Social Indicators know that most social indicators show an improving world … in some facets, the improvements are nothing short of astonishing.

Now comes an excellent book by sociologist Brad Wright, Upside: Surprising GOOD NEWS About the State of Our World. Wright covers most of the issues I’ve raised on my blog, plus many more. It is full of wonderful stats and charts, but the narrative is in Wright’s characteristically engaging, witty style.

Wright is not saying that everything in the world is improving (think things like obesity and environmental challenges), but it is hardly a planet on the verge of disaster. In fact, there are reasons for considerable optimism. Following Matt Ridley’s lead, he sees the coming to fruition of specialization and exchange as a key to the recent rise in human welfare. One area where I would like to have heard more is why pessimism is so pervasive. He offers some insights. For one, our modern society is highly adaptive due to the rise of specialization and exchange. But it is incomprehensibly complex. Because of our inability to grasp complexity, we are prone to extrapolate present trends … particularly negative ones … indefinitely into the future. There is a radical underestimation of our adaptive ability. Furthermore, we seem programmed not to see incremental life improvements. Once an improvement arrives, it quickly becomes the new normal. But we easily fixate on negative news and trends we experience as threats. And, of course, news sources are aware of the fixation and highlight such news to attract readers. That is how we create a society where the majority think their life is good or getting better but also think other people’s lives are going downhill.

The book is a gem. His data is documented in endnotes, mostly available through websites or readily available sources. I will keep this book on my reference shelf, and you will undoubtedly see it referenced in future Kronicle posts. Pick up a copy today.