Why are we so gloomy about the world?
Statistics show big improvements to our way of life, but many of us think the world is in decline. Sandra Kanthal asks if human nature is wired to fixate on the downsides of life.
Statistics from around the world show huge improvements to our way of life, but many of us think the world is in decline. There are good reasons for this; climate change is often cited as the big one. But many of us aren鈥檛 aware of the huge strides we鈥檝e made over the decades in reducing poverty, improving healthcare and tackling hunger. In fact, according to surveys of people in richer countries at least, the majority of people think the world is getting worse; but why? In this edition of the Why Factor, Sandra Kanthal asks if human nature is wired to fixate on the downsides of life.
Professor Martin Seligman, Director of the Positive Psychology centre at the University of Pennsylvania
Dr Hannah Ritchie, Head of Research at Our World in Data
Ola Rosling , Director and Co-founder of the Gapminder Foundation
Chris Martenson, Co-founder and CEO of Peak Prosperity
Professor Jeremy Adleman, Director of The Global History Lab at Princeton University
Steven Pinker, Professor of Psychology at Harvard University
Presenter: Sandra Kanthal
Producer: Xavier Zapata
(Image: Woman on a train looking out of the window. Credit: Marjan Apostolovic/Getty Images)
Last on
More episodes
Broadcasts
- Mon 16 Sep 2019 12:32GMT大象传媒 World Service except News Internet
- Mon 16 Sep 2019 17:06GMT大象传媒 World Service Australasia
- Mon 16 Sep 2019 21:06GMT大象传媒 World Service
- Tue 17 Sep 2019 01:32GMT大象传媒 World Service
- Mon 23 Sep 2019 08:06GMT大象传媒 World Service East and Southern Africa & East Asia only
Get the podcast
Subscribe or download individual episodes for free
Why do we look the way we do?
Tattoos, trainers, jeans, hair, ties ... why?
Podcast
-
The Why Factor
The extraordinary and hidden histories behind everyday objects and actions