# Is The World Becoming A Better Place? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 28, 2022, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-world-becoming-a-better-place/963612 "2022-04-28T14:23:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-world-becoming-a-better-place/963612/1 "2022-04-28T14:23:14Z")
Surprisingly, a quick review suggests this topic has only been addressed tangentially. What are you doing to make this world a better place? What about Mark Zuckerberg? Many people hear the constant stream of bad news from the media, worry about war and terrorism, Covid and its sequels and sequelae. With good reason. But good news is rarely reported and doesn’t sell papers or ad space. For billions of people, the world has improved immeasurably in the last twenty or two hundred years. **But do you think the world is improving, or otherwise?** ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-world-becoming-a-better-place/963612/2 "2022-04-28T15:51:47Z")
Yes. [Hans Rosling](https://www.amazon.com/Factfulness-Reasons-World-Things-Better/dp/1250107814) turned around my thinking on this completely. [With data](https://www.gapminder.org/). ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-world-becoming-a-better-place/963612/3 "2022-04-28T15:54:43Z")
Slowly, and in fits and starts, with some backwards steps, but yes. Things that would have seemed impossible (like gay marriage, for one example) became accepted in my adult life time. Yes, children get shot in the head in parts of the world for the crime of education, but improvement is being made. Too slowly, but it is. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-world-becoming-a-better-place/963612/4 "2022-04-28T15:59:47Z")
IMHO it’s more a matter of perception - if you lower your consumption of news (and social media) the world starts to look a lot better in a short period of time. Most of us sitting right now at our computers can turn and look out a window - just ask yourself - has YOUR world gotten better or worse in the last 20 years? I would hazard most of us could say ‘better’, even if the positives of your own life seem weighed down by external events far from your home. That said. I think the world is always getting better in a lot of ways, even with often sensational setbacks along the way. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-world-becoming-a-better-place/963612/5 "2022-04-28T15:59:52Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > . [With data](https://www.gapminder.org/). Wow. I got my ass kicked on the quiz. Thanks for brightening my day! ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-world-becoming-a-better-place/963612/6 "2022-04-28T16:10:41Z")
I think the **world** is definitely getting better and has basically continuously done so throughout my lifetime. I think other than WW2 the world probably continued to get better in many areas/ways for almost the entirety of the 20th century. Developing countries, particularly in Africa and other regions commonly called the “Global South” continue to see really strong improvements in health metrics, economic metrics etc. I think the United States continued to get better for most of the time as well, but I think those improvements either stopped completely or slowed down to so near it that it’s hard to tell the difference in the last 5-10 years, and perceptions will often be colored by your own country. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-world-becoming-a-better-place/963612/7 "2022-04-28T16:12:50Z")
Super interesting link. Thanks for sharing that! ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-world-becoming-a-better-place/963612/8 "2022-04-28T16:28:37Z")
One probably small, insignificant thing that happens to mean a lot to me (because I consume massive amounts of fictional media) is the change in demographics represented in fictional media. If you look at shows and movies from when I was a teen in the 90s (which was, what, 10 years ago right?) the casting was so white, straight, thin and able-bodied. Often with male-centric themes. Now there are so many different stripes of people in the casts, characters and stories. Sooooo much different. And not just movies and TV, but also comics (comics probably had more diversity before TV and movies), video games, advertising, tv news presenters…even government representatives are more diverse than when I was a kid. I’m just a straight, white, cis woman but this sort of diversity thrills me. Not necessarily because it better represents me (although I cheer for big bodies on screen) but it better represents the world around me. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-world-becoming-a-better-place/963612/9 "2022-04-28T16:37:34Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Wow. I got my ass kicked on the quiz. Thanks for brightening my day! I answered about a dozen and a half questions. I found that if I answered the way I expected, I was getting them all wrong. So I switched to the most optimistic answers and started getting almost all correct. I suspect the questions are cherry-picked to be ‘gotchas’ in which you assume things in those particular cases are worse than they actually are. You could create a quiz that was the exact opposite, where most people would assume and guess the more optimistic answers, but the most pessimistic answers are all correct. Which is not to say I think the world is _ **not** _ becoming a better place. My answer would be, “it’s complicated”. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-world-becoming-a-better-place/963612/10 "2022-04-28T16:44:36Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I found that if I answered the way I expected, I was getting them all wrong. So I switched to the most optimistic answers and started getting almost all correct. I stuck with answering what I honestly thought, but yeah, once I saw what was going on I could have gone from honesty to optimism. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-world-becoming-a-better-place/963612/11 "2022-04-28T17:00:53Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I stuck with answering what I honestly thought, but yeah, once I saw what was going on I could have gone from honesty to optimism. My larger point was, the quiz is designed to make it look like you and I are full of overly pessimistic ‘global misconceptions’, but another set of facts could also be cherry-picked to make it appear that our ‘misconceptions’ are overly _ **optimistic** _. It reminds me of the quote popularized by Mark Twain about “lies, damn lies, and statistics”. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-world-becoming-a-better-place/963612/12 "2022-04-28T17:05:16Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I’m just a straight, white, cis woman but this sort of diversity thrills me. Yeah, agree (with the amendment that I’m a 50+ dude). I like how the entertainment landscape is evolving. That said, there’s a huge amount of work still to do _behind_ the screen. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-world-becoming-a-better-place/963612/13 "2022-04-28T19:41:26Z")
I just read Rosling’s wonderful book _Factfulness_, which contains the quiz presumably linked to. It argues things can be difficult but improving and gives dozens of areas where this is so. (I was going to type out the quiz later; am grateful I do not need to do so.) People who have never been to countries they stereotype often have a view of them which is incorrect, sometimes very much so. The (mental) map, if you will, does not always match the geographical reality. In such cases, it is usually the map which is wrong and not the geography. That said, some of the examples are deliberately chosen. It is probably not necessary to refer to people or Norwegians who fo not do well on a Swedish quiz as chimpanzees. Rosling denies being an optimist. He claims to aspire to hope, when there is reason to hope. And to fear and take action when there is reason to do this too. Very inspiring stuff. I highly recommend the book, his arguments are very clear and very reasonable. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-world-becoming-a-better-place/963612/14 "2022-04-28T19:48:26Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Yes. [Hans Rosling](https://www.amazon.com/Factfulness-Reasons-World-Things-Better/dp/1250107814) turned around my thinking on this completely. [With data](https://www.gapminder.org/). Was this supposed to make me feel better, lol. This quiz tells me 11% of people in the world don’t have enough food to meet their daily needs, but that was the smallest number of the options, and that was supposed to make me feel _good_? Thirty percent of people in the world lack access to clean drinking water. The best of the given options was always the correct answer, but the correct answers were very, very bad. Anyway, in answer to the OP’s question, the answer is slowly. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-world-becoming-a-better-place/963612/15 "2022-04-28T19:51:00Z")
Less slowly than most believe, though. The book shows how world population can increase from 7 to 11 billion, but still keep the number of those 0-14 constant at 2 billion. Interesting. It also explains why there is good reason to be optimistic for continents with the most room to grow. Although this will take time, the progress in a mere twenty years is truly eye-opening. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-world-becoming-a-better-place/963612/16 "2022-04-28T20:04:52Z")
I definitely have an appreciation for the better changes in humanity. My parents are much older than I am, and it’s apparent often when we speak that we’re from different universes. If my dad were alive, he’d be 100 years old. Made it to 94, which isn’t bad. Anyway, a man who was born right in the middle of Jim Crow got to live to vote for a black president. I had never seen that man vote in my life, but he registered and hobbled down to the election center to cast his ballot. He loved the Dodgers in a way that was borderline insane for being the first to integrate. And he remembers that happening. This wasn’t history for him to read about. Wild ride, isn’t it? Anyway, my answer is still slowly. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2022, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-world-becoming-a-better-place/963612/17 "2022-04-28T20:57:10Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Was this supposed to make me feel better, lol I said precisely jackshit about how anyone was supposed to _feel_. My post just was about showing that the world _is_ improving in measurable ways. If you play with Rosling’s _[animated charts](https://www.gapminder.org/tools/#$chart-type=bubbles&url=v1)_, you can see that “slowly” is highly subjective. It’s improving _faster_ as far as I can tell. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-world-becoming-a-better-place/963612/18 "2022-04-29T20:09:40Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Yes. [Hans Rosling](https://www.amazon.com/Factfulness-Reasons-World-Things-Better/dp/1250107814) turned around my thinking on this completely. [With data](https://www.gapminder.org/). Kind of an interesting quiz; at least, if the link took me where it was supposed to. Apparently if people in the USA have an income of over $60 a month they’re not really poor; and if 18% of companies have a woman CEO, and 60% of girls get to go to school until they’re 11, we’ve got gender equity and everything’s just fine. I gave up on it once it became clear that each question would give several very low options, of which the highest of those low choices would always be the correct answer. – The world appears to me to be improving in some ways, getting worse in others, and heading in both directions at once, depending on just where you look, on quite a number of issues. I don’t think we can tell right now; we’re in the middle of a rapidly changing mess. Ask again in a couple of hundred years – though it’ll be necessary to ask somebody else. And the answer, at that point, may also depend on how people then define “better”. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-world-becoming-a-better-place/963612/19 "2022-04-29T20:27:57Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Kind of an interesting quiz; at least, if the link took me where it was supposed to. Apparently if people in the USA have an income of over $60 a month they’re not really poor; and if 18% of companies have a woman CEO, and 60% of girls get to go to school until they’re 11, we’ve got gender equity and everything’s just fine. I think the point of the quiz is not to tell us how great everything is, but to show us that things, some things at least, are not as bad as we (the collective “we”) perceive, and that compared to the past, those specific things are better now, altho not perfect. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-world-becoming-a-better-place/963612/20 "2022-04-29T21:07:09Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > if 18% of companies have a woman CEO, and 60% of girls get to go to school until they’re 11, we’ve got gender equity and everything’s just fine. If that’s what you got from questions that say : > the world of business is still so embarrassingly male dominated and > there are still huge gender inequalities in the world Then the problem isn’t with GapMinder [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-world-becoming-a-better-place/963612.md?page=2)