Still anxious? Let's look at rational optimists.

This book is recommended by Lian Yue, and it has been recommended more than once, so you must buy it and read it.

I always think that Lian Yue himself is a rational optimist, and I recommend him to you because Lian Yue is a rational optimist.

What is a rational optimist? Give a chestnut.

Also living in the 2 1 century, some people are extremely dissatisfied with the status quo, complaining about overtime, high medical expenses, road congestion, air pollution, food insecurity and so on. This is so-called pessimism and cynicism.

However, some people think that human science and technology are constantly improving, there are many high-tech new things, and electronic products are updated quickly. Vegetables and fruits in different seasons can be eaten all year round. Things in big supermarkets and shopping malls can be bought without leaving home. No matter how far away friends and relatives are, you can see each other by playing a video, and human life will surely get better and better. This is a rational optimist.

If you are dissatisfied with the status quo, you will only complain and complain, and you can't solve any problems. This is a pessimistic cynic.

Finding problems, analyzing advantages and disadvantages, trying to solve them and believing that their efforts will have good results are rational optimists.

The author of this book is not blindly optimistic, but has collected a large number of historical materials and made specific data analysis before reaching the point of view to be expressed.

The title of the first chapter at the beginning of this book is: Today is better-an unprecedented era.

Some people think that the past life was better, simple and quiet, and people's moral character was better. Taking a rich farm in western Europe in the19th century as an example, the author shows that the so-called beauty is just wishful thinking.

On the surface, the family sat around the fireplace, the father read the Bible aloud, the mother prepared beef and stewed onions for everyone, the second sister took care of the crying little brother, the eldest son poured the water from the crock into everyone's cups on the dining table, and the eldest sister fed the horses in the stable. There is no noise from cars, no drug dealers and no radioactive dust in milk in the outside world. Everything is so quiet and serene, birds and flowers are singing outside the window.

In fact, my father, who was reading classics at that time, was choked by the smoke of firewood, and he would not live to be 53 years old if he got bronchitis sooner or later. The baby kept crying because he was dying of smallpox. Toothache torments mother; Second sister is going to marry an alcoholic and become his slave; My sister was pregnant and the child was sent to an orphanage as soon as she was born. Beef tastes tasteless; Everyone's clothes are in rags; As for the bird outside the window, the little boy will catch it tomorrow and eat it.

The reasons for these situations are: first, medical and health equipment is backward, people are easy to get sick, and their life expectancy is short; Food is single because it is far away from the market, and vegetables and fruits are restricted by seasonal transportation costs and other factors and become luxury goods. Malnutrition is a common phenomenon. The quality of clothes on the market is also worrying; Because of the patriarchal atmosphere, daughters are often arranged to marry poor old men or alcoholics, and they cannot resist. ...

Some people may think that the example given by the author is too absolute. Why does father have to die of bronchitis? Why must the youngest son die of smallpox? Don't worry, the author has a lot of statistics. Facts have proved that there were countless cases of human death in that era, such as war, murder, childbirth, accidents, floods, famine, tuberculosis, malaria, typhoid fever, measles and smallpox. Therefore, even if the youngest son does not die of smallpox, he may die of measles or typhoid fever. So is my father.

Data show that since 1800, the world population has increased sixfold and the average life expectancy has doubled. Compared with 1955, the global per capita income almost tripled in 2005. When you get older, the possibility of getting cancer, heart disease and stroke is much lower. Literacy, the possibility of graduating from school is greatly improved. The probability of owning a telephone, a toilet, a refrigerator and a bicycle has also greatly increased. At the same time, the world population has more than doubled in the past 50 years, but the goods and services available to the world population have not been restricted, but have greatly increased. By any standard, this is an amazing achievement of mankind.

In fact, you don't need to read books or read data analysis. As long as you look back at your personal growth history, you will find that the present era is indeed an unprecedented good era, and the present life is indeed better than the previous life.

I remember when I was a child, there was no kerosene lamp or candle power supply in the village, so I ate and slept early at night. There is almost no entertainment, occasionally playing cards and chatting, but also distressed that kerosene lamps and candles cost money. Later, after going to school, I started to get electricity. Slowly, bicycles and motorcycles appeared, and then radios and black-and-white televisions appeared. Later, it was replaced by color TV sets and telephones, and later it became mobile phones and computers ... and all this has made rapid progress in just over a decade. Therefore, we have reason to believe that the future society will be better and better.

You are worried about the exhaustion of electric energy, and scientists will develop new energy, wind energy and solar energy; Worried about water pollution, technology will separate water molecules, isolate clean water sources and add some minerals that are beneficial to the body; Worried about the explosion of the earth's population, there may be interstellar immigrants in the future ... human history is a history of economic progress.

Of course, this book is worth reading, if you have time. From the Stone Age, it talked about the Internet age of 2 1 century, including barter, farming civilization, the emergence of cities, climate change, and some views on genetic modification and financial crisis. The views are clear and well-founded. Explain to us the theoretical logic behind optimism about human society. After reading it, you will not be blindly pessimistic, nor will you be blindly optimistic.