I Am Optimistic About the Future of Humanity, Essay Example

On first glance, the existential catastrophes of war, terrorism and a global inequality on the socio-economic level, which currently confront the world, could easily lead to a deep sense of pessimism. Despite the potential of the human race, its radical technological advances, the marked improvement in the overall quality of life, there remain fundamental tensions which seemingly threaten the world-order. However, the pessimistic vision of the future remains fundamentally flawed, to the extent that it takes the current problematic aspects of the world and then uses them to define our future. This is problematic, in so far as it overlooks the radical change which is at the center of human history and means that even if things may appear bleak, this potential exists so as to affect a positive change. It is because of this possibility itself, which is demonstrated in the development of human civilization, that I am optimistic about the future of humanity.

In essence, the arguments which take a pessimistic stance to human history make the following claim: there are clear problems which exist in the world. The human being, accordingly, will be unable to resolve these problems, but instead will succumb to them. What the pessimistic view maintains is that there is no possibility itself that things could get better or that issues will have a common resolution. The weakness of this argument is that it makes an essentialist claim about what the human being can or cannot do: the pessimistic view states that the human being is incapable of improving the future. This is problematic, because it makes a clear limit statement regarding human potential. However, the history of the human being is precisely the history of growth and change, of the crossing over of limits instead of remaining confined by these same limits.

Namely, the pessimistic view holds that current crises are part of the human condition. However, if the pessimistic view was accurate, the human being would have always remained the same. Namely, the human being would have never progressed, because the pessimistic thesis disregards the potential for change. In other words, how can the pessimistic view explain the positive changes in human history? How can the pessimistic view explain advancements such as the United Nations Charter for Human Rights? How can it explain phenomena such as the abolition of slavery? It is unable to explain destruction of colonialism, the promotion of women’s rights, the commitment to racial equality in even the most historically racist countries such as the United States and South Africa. The narrative of the pessimist is unable to explain precisely these changes.

The optimistic view of the history of the human race instead takes precisely these developments as positive signs for the potential for equally positive change. The optimistic stance makes the following claim: if the human being was condemned to a pessimistic fate, how can we explain all the positive changes that have occurred in society? In other words, the optimistic world-view does not reject the fact that there are clear problems in the world. But the mere existence of these problems does not imply that we should take a pessimistic position. If this were the case, we would be depriving the human being of his potential for positive change. And this gesture completely overlooks the historically positive changes that have occurred in human life.

If some are brought to despair, I urge them to look at the history of the human being as a gradual improvement of our living conditions. I do not want them to reject the emotions felt upon violence, but instead use these emotions for positive change and understand that the human being still has potential for positive change, it is part of our possibility of life. We need to view the problems we face as opportunities, as preconditions to use our potential for change. When we transform our perspective on what a problem is and how it defines us, we can unlock our potential. And this is the potential that has historically demonstrated itself throughout our shared history.