Planetary Progress

Dick has assembled an “attitude adjustment bookshelf” of optimistic information:

• Enlightenment Now! by Steven Pinker

• Factfulness by Hans Rosling, et al.

• Clear and Present Safety by Michael Cohen & Micah Zenko

• Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations

• Global Crises, Global Solutions by Bjorn Lomborg

• Gates Notes by the Gates Foundation

• #Solvable, a podcast by the Rockefeller Foundation

• Abundance by Peter Diamandis & Steven Kotler

• The Measure of Civilization by Ian Morris

• Latest addition: This Has Been the Best Year Ever by Nicholas Kristof

The glass is not only half full, it’s being filled at a record pace. However, the world will continue to get noisier and crises will be more urgent. As conditions improve at a record pace, there will be more complaining and distress, not less.

Dick’s friend Bob Glasser is spearheading a PLATO course exposing this situation, but worries it might not be popular. Our fellow members were extremely uncomfortable during our course on Steven Pinker’s earlier book, which recounts the horrors of past violence.

Yes, the news is awful, but this is the best time ever to be alive. If you get it wrong about whether the world is getting better or worse, you could miss an opportunity to participate in its transformation!

Lessons learned:

• Today we know a lot more about nonviolence

• All lives are valuable

• There is ample reason to work for human progress

Politics

No matter which Democrat wins the presidency, we’ll get the rest of the candidates as a talented, dedicated, productive cabinet.

Robert Reich, who teaches at UC Berkeley, says today’s students are activists like no others.

Here’s an explanation of why Greta Thunberg's speech at the United Nations was so effective.

The Zendo Project

is a peer support and harm reduction program to help people experiencing psychedelics or other overwhelming situations.

xkcd

Every year, we attach a large number of wonderful comics to our newsletter, stretching the limits of fair use. In the process, we have fallen more and more in love with xkcd, so here’s a shout–out: xkcd.com! Thank you, Randall Munroe!

Escape Codes

We can talk about Alexa without waking her by calling her "the A-word." She's always on.

It's a Big One!

After 64 years of driving ordinary cars, Dick is thrilled to have a luxury car beyond his dreams. It’s a gorgeous six-year-old convertible with everything. Even six years ago, driver assistance was amazing. The motor sleeps at stoplights, it can park itself, and the car is full of Dick’s favorite stuff, which is software.

He’s defensive about the expense: it only cost a third of its original price, about as much as any new car.

A big, expensive convertible with extra safety features is an "old man's car." It sure is! Dick’s ecstatic.

Next, he’s going to invent a convertible with gull–wing doors.