Is the world getting better: The hidden progress of humanity and why the news rarely talks about it.

Is the world getting better, and if so, why does it feel so hopeless?

Every new year arrives carrying a strange contradiction. Calendars reset, resolutions are made, and hope is spoken aloud, yet many people feel heavier than they did only weeks earlier. January consistently brings a rise in depression and suicide rates across much of the world. The reasons are complex, ranging from financial strain to loneliness, disrupted routines, shorter days, the emotional aftermath of festive expectations and even Hedonic adaptation. What makes this period particularly dangerous is not only how people feel, but what they are told, repeatedly, about the world they inhabit.

Open any news app or social feed and the message is relentless. The world is burning. Everything is getting worse. Society is collapsing. Humanity is on the brink. This framing is not accidental. Outrage and despair generate clicks, and clicks generate revenue. Calm progress does not travel as far or as fast as fear. Over time, this creates a distorted mental environment where people feel as though they are living through an unprecedented age of decline, even when the data tells a radically different story.

The uncomfortable truth is that life, on a global scale, has been improving for decades, and by almost every measurable standard. This does not mean that suffering has vanished, or that injustice no longer exists. It means that the baseline of human life has risen so dramatically that many of the horrors that once defined existence are now rare enough to feel shocking when they occur. Understanding this does not invalidate personal pain. It places it in a wider human context that can, for some, restore a sense of perspective and possibility.

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Why the news feels like the world is ending

Modern media operates on algorithms designed to maximise attention. Stories that provoke fear, anger or despair outperform stories about gradual improvement. As a result, progress becomes invisible while crisis dominates perception. This is why many people who closely follow the news are genuinely shocked when confronted with long-term global statistics showing improvement across health, safety and living standards.

The psychological impact of this environment is profound. Humans are not built to process a constant stream of global emergencies. When the brain is repeatedly told that everything is falling apart, it responds as if danger is immediate and personal. Anxiety increases, hope diminishes, and the future begins to feel hostile. Over time, this narrative can feed depression, especially during vulnerable seasons when energy and motivation are already low.

This does not mean the media is lying. It means it is incomplete. Headlines capture moments, not trajectories. They report spikes, not slopes. To understand whether life is improving or declining, one must step back and look at trends over decades, not hours.

Starvation and the greatest survival revolution in human history

For most of human existence, starvation was a constant threat. Famines wiped out entire regions with terrifying regularity. Even wealthy societies were one failed harvest away from mass death. Two hundred years ago, the richest individuals on Earth lived with a level of food insecurity that would be considered unacceptable today.

Since the 1960s, deaths from starvation have fallen dramatically worldwide. Both in raw numbers and as a percentage of the global population, famine deaths have collapsed. Advances in agricultural science, fertilisers, irrigation, crop resilience, global trade and logistics have transformed humanity’s relationship with food. Today, you are statistically less likely to die from starvation than at any other point in human history

This does not mean hunger has been eliminated. Millions still face food insecurity, particularly in conflict zones. What it does mean is that starvation is no longer a normal background condition of life for most of the planet. That shift alone represents one of the greatest moral and technological achievements ever recorded.

Natural disasters are deadlier on screens than in reality

It often feels as though the planet is constantly tearing itself apart. Earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and wildfires dominate headlines. The images are dramatic, the language apocalyptic. Yet the long-term data shows something counterintuitive. Humans are far less likely to die in natural disasters today than at any previous point in history

Better forecasting, early warning systems, stronger infrastructure, improved building codes and faster emergency response have saved countless lives. An earthquake that would have levelled a city a century ago now results in far fewer casualties. A storm that once arrived without warning can now be tracked days in advance.

The disasters are real. The suffering is real. But the risk to any individual is historically low. Understanding this matters, because constant exposure to disaster imagery can make the world feel arbitrarily lethal, when in fact it has become increasingly survivable.

Child survival and the end of a silent tragedy

Few modern readers grasp how deadly childhood once was. For most of history, losing children was an expected part of family life. Parents loved deeply while knowing that survival was uncertain. Infectious disease, poor sanitation and limited medical knowledge claimed lives with brutal efficiency.

Since the 1960s, global child mortality has fallen at an astonishing rate. Children today are more likely to survive into adulthood than at any time in recorded history. Vaccination, antibiotics, clean water, maternal healthcare and basic public health measures have rewritten the odds of survival.

This improvement alone has reshaped societies, allowing families to plan futures with confidence rather than fear. It has also quietly saved hundreds of millions of lives, a fact rarely mentioned in daily discourse.

Violence, war and the fragile nature of progress

Violence remains one of humanity’s greatest fears, and with good reason. The twentieth century demonstrated how destructive organised conflict can be. Yet when measured globally, deaths from warfare declined steadily after the Second World War, falling for decades.

Recent conflicts, including war in Europe, have disrupted this trend and rightly cause alarm. They matter not only for their immediate suffering, but because they threaten to reverse progress that took generations to build. Even so, it remains true that the average person today is less likely to die in war than their ancestors were.

This perspective does not minimise the horror of conflict. It highlights what is at stake, and why preserving peace matters so deeply.

Poverty, electricity and the infrastructure of dignity

Extreme poverty has declined dramatically worldwide, particularly over the past forty years. The number of people living without basic resources has fallen off a cliff. Access to electricity, clean water, sanitation, transportation and healthcare has expanded across vast regions of Asia, Africa and Latin America.

These changes alter daily life in ways that are difficult to overstate. Electricity means refrigeration for food and medicine. Clean water means fewer diseases. Transportation means access to education and employment. Healthcare means survivable illnesses.

When viewed together, these developments reveal a world that, while deeply imperfect, is materially better for more people than ever before.

Why progress feels invisible

Progress is slow, cumulative and unremarkable in the moment. Decline is sudden, emotional and loud. Humans are wired to notice threats more than improvements. Media systems amplify this bias.

As a result, many people experience a constant sense of dread disconnected from statistical reality. This mismatch can create despair, especially among those already struggling emotionally. Feeling as though the world is collapsing can make personal challenges feel pointless or overwhelming.

Understanding that humanity has faced far worse conditions and steadily improved them can restore a sense of agency. Progress is not guaranteed, but it is possible, and history shows that it happens when people choose to build rather than surrender.

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Living better than the richest people 200 years ago

It is easy to romanticise the past. In reality, even the wealthiest individuals two centuries ago lived without antibiotics, anaesthesia, electricity, clean running water, refrigeration, modern dentistry or reliable communication. A minor infection could be fatal. Travel was dangerous. Pain was unavoidable.

Today, an average person with access to basic healthcare lives longer, safer and more comfortably than kings once did. This does not erase modern stress or inequality. It reminds us that human life has been profoundly upgraded in ways that are now taken for granted.

When despair feels personal

Statistics do not cure depression. Knowing that the world is improving does not automatically lift emotional pain. Depression is not a failure of gratitude or logic. It is a health condition influenced by biology, environment and experience.

What this broader perspective can do is challenge the idea that feeling hopeless means the future is objectively hopeless. Many people who struggle internally assume their despair reflects reality. In truth, it reflects suffering, not prediction.

If you are reading this and feeling overwhelmed, disconnected or trapped, you are not broken. You are responding to stress in a world that constantly tells you things are worse than they are.

A new year grounded in reality, not fear

Hope does not come from pretending everything is fine. It comes from understanding what is true. The truth is that humanity has made extraordinary progress, often quietly, often imperfectly, but undeniably. The world is not on fire in the way headlines suggest. It is a place where life expectancy has risen, suffering has decreased, and possibility has expanded.

This does not mean the work is finished. It means it is worth continuing.

If this new year finds you struggling, know that your pain exists within a broader human story that bends towards improvement. You are living in the safest, healthiest and most connected era humanity has ever known. And if today feels heavy, tomorrow remains unwritten.

Help is available. Progress is real. And your life matters.

Help exists, even when it feels distant

If despair becomes heavy, reaching out matters. Support is available, often free, confidential and immediate.

In the United States, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available by calling or texting 988, providing 24-hour support. In Canada, Talk Suicide offers help at 1-833-456-4566 or via text. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, Samaritans can be reached at 116 123. In Trinidad and Tobago, Lifeline operates at 800-5588, offering confidential emotional support. In Jamaica, the Suicide Prevention Initiative provides crisis support at 888-429-5433. In Barbados, the Mental Health Hotline can be reached at 246-536-4500.

Across the wider Caribbean, local health ministries and regional NGOs provide mental health services, often accessible through public hospitals and community clinics.

For those anywhere in the world, free international online resources include Befrienders Worldwide, which connects individuals to local helplines globally, and IASP, the International Association for Suicide Prevention, which maintains an updated directory of crisis services by country. Online platforms such as 7 Cups offer anonymous peer support at no cost.

Reaching out does not require certainty. It only requires the willingness to not face everything alone.

Country or Region	Organisation	Contact Details	Type of Support
United States	Suicide and Crisis Lifeline	Call or text 988	24-hour confidential emotional support, crisis intervention and suicide prevention
Canada	Talk Suicide Canada	Call 1-833-456-4566 or text 45645 (evenings)	National suicide prevention and emotional support services
United Kingdom and Ireland	Samaritans	Call 116 123	Free, confidential emotional support available 24 hours a day
Trinidad and Tobago	Lifeline	Call 800-5588	Confidential emotional support and crisis counselling
Jamaica	Suicide Prevention Initiative in Jamaica	Call 888-429-5433	Crisis intervention, counselling and suicide prevention support
Barbados	Mental Health Hotline	Call 246-536-4500	Mental health crisis support and referrals
Wider Caribbean	Public health ministries and regional NGOs	Available through public hospitals and community clinics	Mental health services, counselling and psychiatric care
International	Befrienders Worldwide	www.befrienders.org	Directory of helplines and emotional support services by country
International	International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP)	www.iasp.info	Global directory of crisis centres and suicide prevention resources
International	7 Cups	www.7cups.com	Free anonymous online peer support and emotional listening