larlet-fr-david/david/stream/2018/08/21/index.md

title: Better informed
lang: en

> Obviously the question then is, why is it that better informed people are more optimistic about the future?
>
> As we have seen, being wrong about global development mostly means being too negative about how the world is changing. Being wrong in these questions means having a cynical worldview. Cynicism suggests that nothing can be done to improve our situation and every effort to do so is bound to fail. Our history, the cynics say, is a history of failures and what we can expect for the future is more of the same.
>
> In contrast to this, answering the questions correctly means that you understand that things can change. An accurate understanding of how global health and poverty are improving leaves no space for cynicism. Those who are optimistic about the future can base their view on the knowledge that it is possible to change the world for the better, because they know that we did.
> 
> <cite>*[Most of us are wrong about how the world has changed (especially those who are pessimistic about the future)](https://ourworldindata.org/wrong-about-the-world)* ([cache](/david/cache/ac52ca153b9db8e358d301628d4b5ce6/))</cite>

At which price? More people [to suffocate?](https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/aug/13/heat-next-big-inequality-issue-heatwaves-world) ([cache](/david/cache/477126baff73beee5a6fc4549ab09242/)) More [slaves](/david/stream/2018/08/15/) to go outside for us?