Optimistic graphs
After looking at the website, "23 charts and maps that show the world is getting much, much better," it is nice to see how the world is improving in many ways. Some of these graphs showed: a longer life expectancy, less people dying, less hunger, less disease, less violent crimes, more access to the internet, and more education. These statistics could be a result of globalization, since the more advanced countries are sharing their modern technologies and way of life with less developed countries.
As good as this information seems to be, however, it seems possible that many of these "optimistic" statistics could cause negative things to happen to this world, along with everything that is seen a positive. For instance, at first glance it seems great that people are living longer, and less people are dying, but after thinking about that for a while, this could in fact be one of the major downfalls that this world could possibly suffer from. As more and more people live longer and fewer die, this could quickly lead to overpopulation and lack of resources. Along with overpopulation causing the lack of resources, the accessibility to modern technology could as well. As more and more underdeveloped countries get access to technology, more people will cause pollution, which could damage our food supply in the long term.
In the long term, it is difficult to tell weather or not globalization will ultimately benefit this world or destroy it. As countries come together, they solve problems that once had people suffering, and "rise" towards a positive future. The thing is, as a result of some of these problems which are being solved, new ones are being created. For example, technology designed to make lives easier, also causes pollution. Again, it is hard to tell if globalization is good or bad, but this website definitely wants us to think it is good.
That is often what happens, the internet shows people what they want to see. People like to be reassured, satisfied with what they see in order to put their minds at ease. People like ease, and will usually ignore important factors to achieve it. This website initially left me feeling satisfied. Satisfied that I should not feel guilty for not have doing much to make this world a better place, that everything is alright, and in fact, better than ever. This is what people want to think, but not what they should. As nice as it would be, it is wrong to only focus on the positive, just as wrong as it is to only focus on the negative, since doing either of these would be the same as lying to ourselves.
Which is why as soon as I stopped feeling the immediate satisfaction and ease from this website, I thought of it as a mind trap. As much as I wish I could only look at what is good and completely ignore everything else, I would be blind to the truth. The truth that there will always be both good and bad no matter what, and the way we truly move forward is by looking at both equally. To stop pretending that this world is perfect, but to also stop pretending that this world is completely doomed and there is nothing we can do to save it. Both those conclusions, despite being polar opposites, come to the same conclusion, putting the mind at ease. To truly do the right thing, we must first stop hiding in the false sanctuary of ease, by letting down our barriers to the truth, and by remembering that none of this is set in stone. The future is what we make of it, and if we want this world to truly improve, we must accept that it will not be easy, but still possible, which is all anything needs to be.
Works Cited:
https://www.vox.com/2014/11/24/7272929/global-poverty-health-crime-literacy-good-news
As good as this information seems to be, however, it seems possible that many of these "optimistic" statistics could cause negative things to happen to this world, along with everything that is seen a positive. For instance, at first glance it seems great that people are living longer, and less people are dying, but after thinking about that for a while, this could in fact be one of the major downfalls that this world could possibly suffer from. As more and more people live longer and fewer die, this could quickly lead to overpopulation and lack of resources. Along with overpopulation causing the lack of resources, the accessibility to modern technology could as well. As more and more underdeveloped countries get access to technology, more people will cause pollution, which could damage our food supply in the long term.
In the long term, it is difficult to tell weather or not globalization will ultimately benefit this world or destroy it. As countries come together, they solve problems that once had people suffering, and "rise" towards a positive future. The thing is, as a result of some of these problems which are being solved, new ones are being created. For example, technology designed to make lives easier, also causes pollution. Again, it is hard to tell if globalization is good or bad, but this website definitely wants us to think it is good.
That is often what happens, the internet shows people what they want to see. People like to be reassured, satisfied with what they see in order to put their minds at ease. People like ease, and will usually ignore important factors to achieve it. This website initially left me feeling satisfied. Satisfied that I should not feel guilty for not have doing much to make this world a better place, that everything is alright, and in fact, better than ever. This is what people want to think, but not what they should. As nice as it would be, it is wrong to only focus on the positive, just as wrong as it is to only focus on the negative, since doing either of these would be the same as lying to ourselves.
Which is why as soon as I stopped feeling the immediate satisfaction and ease from this website, I thought of it as a mind trap. As much as I wish I could only look at what is good and completely ignore everything else, I would be blind to the truth. The truth that there will always be both good and bad no matter what, and the way we truly move forward is by looking at both equally. To stop pretending that this world is perfect, but to also stop pretending that this world is completely doomed and there is nothing we can do to save it. Both those conclusions, despite being polar opposites, come to the same conclusion, putting the mind at ease. To truly do the right thing, we must first stop hiding in the false sanctuary of ease, by letting down our barriers to the truth, and by remembering that none of this is set in stone. The future is what we make of it, and if we want this world to truly improve, we must accept that it will not be easy, but still possible, which is all anything needs to be.
Works Cited:
https://www.vox.com/2014/11/24/7272929/global-poverty-health-crime-literacy-good-news
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