Debatable. The answer is subjective, but with the way things have been going lately it’s important to stay positive. Try to see what good there is, and stop in for a little reminder.

It’s easy to see why people might have a negative view of the world. After all, if you turn on the news or read social media, then you’d be hard-pressed to find positive news. However, while there’s no denying that the world isn’t perfect, there are plenty of signs that it’s arguably better than most people believe. Of course, everyone has their own individual experience, so it would be wrong to be overly positive (and also overly negative). But if we can look at the world objectively, then we might find that it’s better than we think. Here’s why. 

People Care 

If the world was a cruel and callous place, then we probably wouldn’t have such a thing as hospitals. People also wouldn’t help others when they dropped something. There wouldn’t be viral videos of wholesome good acts. It would be impossible to get around anywhere, or do anything because everyone would be self-serving, and the world would be too chaotic. But that’s not what we see. On any given day, you’ll find that people are more than willing to co-exist with those around them. They’re not just going through the motions — it’s a genuine desire, one that makes us feel good.

Coming Together in Trying Times

There’s the idea, promoted by the philosopher Hobbes, that, deep down, we’re all wild creatures who need the veneer of civilization to reduce our animalistic ways. This view says that if civilization were to collapse, then it wouldn’t be long before we were all killing each other. But this view isn’t really backed up by reality. There are plenty of instances of trying times in the past, and at no point did humanity turn on itself. In fact, the opposite happened. People are likely to help each other more when the going gets tough. 

Seeking Justice

Of course, we can’t say that the world is perfect. We have crime. People do bad things. But there are two things to be said about this. The first is that the vast majority of people don’t break the law. The second is that humanity is committed to bringing those people that do commit crimes to justice. The Daniel Fung arrest, in which people were arrested and brought to trial for murder, shows that there’s reason to be helpful. If the world was a bad place, then the world wouldn’t care what happened to criminals. But they do. 

Things are Improving

It would be nice if the world was a perfect place. Alas, it’s not. But could it be in the future? There are reasons to believe that it could be. If you take a look at the state of the world, what you’ll see is that things are improving in a lot of the ways that count. We’re talking about the reduction of poverty, access to education, improving healthcare, and so on. The world is a better place than it was, say, five hundred years ago. And there’s every chance that it’ll be even better a few hundred years down the line and beyond.