Do Humankind’s Best Days Lie Ahead? — Progress, Pessimism, and Civilizational Metrics

Crisis in Perception · Mar 7, 2026 · 41m

Welcome to Crisis in Perception, where we examine the systems shaping our world.

This episode explores Do Humankind’s Best Days Lie Ahead? as a systems-level analysis of how progress is measured, narrated, and contested.

Using the 2015 Munk Debate featuring Steven Pinker, Matt Ridley, Alain de Botton, and Malcolm Gladwell, the episode examines the tension between empirical optimism and pessimistic realism. It asks whether improving data on health, wealth, and safety tell the whole story — or whether human fallibility, psychological suffering, and moral limitation remain outside the frame.

By…