The Edgy Optimist
In today’s maelstrom of negativity, optimism can feel almost offensive, an attitude that seems to fly in the face of the intense struggles that so many people confront, in the U.S. and around the world. The optimism that fuels this column, though, says not that we are overstating problems but rather that we are underestimating our capacity to solve them. And its “edginess” reflects a belief that there is real danger in not looking at upsides.
Pessimism creates its own dystopian doom loop. The despairing conviction that we lack the ability to create a better world can be self-fulfilling. But as the 20th century thinker Karl Popper reminded us, not only does no one know the future, but the future is itself unwritten. Therefore, a certainty in doom is its own kind of arrogance. Optimism as I see it is fueled by a different certainty: not that tomorrow will be better than today, but that we have the capacity to make it so.
Because there are, in fact, many possible futures, and we are all in the business of determining which one will come to pass. Societies that are mired in cynicism and negativity have a hard time getting out of their own way. Why start a business, have children, get an education, dream dreams if you believe that everything is going to hell? Best to get what you can while you can, live it up, and watch as Rome burns. That is not a recipe for a better world.
I am trying to cook up change for the better both with this column and The Progress Network, which I launched in 2020 to marshal voices and highlight stories that point us toward a future of dreams rather than fears. There are, as Tolstoy said, no novels about happy families because happy families are dull. It is also why there is a dearth of “good news” in our information ecosystems; good news doesn’t get nearly as many clicks. The Progress Network, its newsletter “What Could Go Right?”, and the podcast of the same name are meant to be an antidote.
The only way to find balance is to examine our assumptions and challenge even deeply held beliefs. I welcome you to come with me as I do just that, looking at politics, economics, markets and technology — domestically and globally — through a lens of edgy optimism.
The future is our story to write. Let’s write it well.
