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2007 : WHAT ARE YOU OPTIMISTIC ABOUT? [1]

In the News [ 37 ] [2]
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Contributors [ 158 ] [3]   |   View All Responses [ 159 ] [4]
[5]
Irene Pepperberg [5]
Research Associate & Lecturer, Harvard; Adjunct Associate Professor, Brandeis; Author, Alex & Me
Research Associate, Psychology, Harvard University; Author, The Alex Studies

A Second (and Better) Enlightenment

Like some other respondents, I'm not particularly optimistic at the moment. Human civilization, however, seems to proceed in cycles overall, and I believe that we are due—even if not quickly enough for my tastes—for a new positive cycle. Every Golden Age—the flowering of reason and good—has been followed by a withering, a decay, a rotting, a descent into superstition, prejudice, greed (pick your own favorite ill); somehow, though, the seeds of the next pinnacle begin their growth and ascent, seemingly finding nourishment in the detritus left by the past. A particular civilization may end, but new ones rise to take its place. I'm optimistic that the current nadir in which we find ourselves (e.g., a world mostly heedless of ongoing genocides, global warming, poverty, etc…) or toward which we see ourselves heading will lead to a renaissance, a new enlightenment…a profound, global shift in the world view for the better.

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Links:
[1] https://www.edge.org/annual-question/what-are-you-optimistic-about
[2] https://www.edge.org/inthenews/what-are-you-optimistic-about
[3] https://www.edge.org/contributors/what-are-you-optimistic-about
[4] https://www.edge.org/responses/what-are-you-optimistic-about
[5] https://www.edge.org/memberbio/irene_pepperberg