# 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:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2022, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-world-becoming-a-better-place/963612/61 "2022-05-09T16:07:25Z")
No, I mean the indiscriminate decimation of animal coprolites from the natural history museums around the world! Not buying that? …ok, I made a mistake. 🙃 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2022, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-world-becoming-a-better-place/963612/62 "2022-05-09T19:21:42Z")
Easily today. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2022, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-world-becoming-a-better-place/963612/63 "2022-05-11T15:12:36Z")
I’d disagree. In the last ten years, we’ve seen a lot of _good_ change- the #Metoo movement, the legalization of gay marriage, the voting out of Trump, renewable energy has made _serious_ inroads vs. fossil fuels, and even among fossil fuels, the percentage of coal has decreased significantly versus natural gas. I’d say it’s a wash; for all the bad Trump did, there was still a lot of good stuff that did happen. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2022, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-world-becoming-a-better-place/963612/64 "2022-05-11T15:20:32Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > 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. That’s not at all what it says. It says most people think these measures are worse than they really are. They do not give a judgement on what is a good measure or a bad measure. ---
**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:** [May 11, 2022, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-world-becoming-a-better-place/963612/65 "2022-05-11T17:13:38Z")
What the book _does_ emphasize is that no number can be judged in isolation. It is more useful to compare it to other numbers, when possible, over time and geography. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-world-becoming-a-better-place/963612.md?page=3)