Links to UP! Content
People think things are getting worse, so what would make you think now was the time to write a book about why things have never been better?
That's exactly why I wrote this book. Because so many people have all but given up and it's time for a reminder that things are actually getting better over time.
I saw this newspaper headline not too long ago: “Life is Harder Now, Experts Say.” And I thought about that for a moment and said, “No, it’s not.” Our lives are longer and better in hundreds of ways. But if you only see, hear, and think about how things get worse, then the natural reaction is to surrender. Somebody needs to sit down and think this through, bring together the best evidence, make the case that life keeps getting better, and give people a reason to look forward to today and tomorrow instead of look back yearning for yesterday. And that's what I do in UP!.
How does UP! connect to your other books?
There’s two things UP! has in common with my Simple Secrets books. First, all my books are built on research. I don’t write about my intuition or gut feeling, I go out and gather up all the evidence and let people know what we know about a subject. That’s what I did when I wrote about happiness, success, relationships and the like, and that’s what I did here.
The other thing all my books have in common is that they are affirmative. You’re not going to pick up anything I’ve written, crack it open, and then throw up your hands and say, “I give up.” Just give me a chance, and I will convince you life is getting better.
What’s making life better? Is it all the work of egg head math and science majors?
There’s two things UP! has in common with my Simple Secrets books. First, all my books are built on research. I don’t write about my intuition or gut feeling, I go out and gather up all the evidence and let people know what we know about a subject. That’s what I did when I wrote about happiness, success, relationships and the like, and that’s what I did here.
Science has advanced the human condition undeniably. Survival rates for cancer are improving dramatically. Cars are vastly safer than they were even a decade ago. But the average person you meet on the street has made life better too. Volunteer rates are skyrocketing. People are more honest. We are more likely to see others as equals. We all have a vital role in doing what the poet called “making gentle the life of this world.”
How can you say things are better when unemployment is high and much of the world is gripped in a massive recession?
The truth is that money is not the foundation of happiness or progress. There’s a study I mention in my book that looked at happiness across cultures. It found that the richest Americans today are at precisely the same happiness level as the members of the Masai cattle herding tribe of Kenya. Which is to say, people with private jets are no happier than people who live in huts.
Of course the world has suffered a significant economic set back, but that’s temporary. The progress that has made life better is forever.
Tell me something that people think is getting worse that’s really getting better?
It is a universally accepted fact that modern life is tearing apart the family. But here’s the thing. People born after 1955 are actually far less likely to get divorced than people born before 1955. It seems so obvious that relationships are harder today than before. It’s obvious, but it’s just not true.
What’s the most impressive way life is getting better?
Here’s one that appeals to everybody. Life expectancy has expanded faster in the last 100 years than it did over the previous 5000 years. We all have the feeling that we’re running out of time, there’s too much to do, and we’ll never have a moment to ourselves. But the truth is that we’ve never had so much time.
Is this progress sustainable? Or are we burning through so much energy to create progress that we're doomed?
There are great examples across the globe of countries dialing back energy use while increasing the quality of life. In New Zealand, for example, energy use has declined five percent per person over the last decade. The knowhow and technology that drove up energy use can be applied to solving that very problem and allowing us to enjoy modern conveniences at a lower cost.
Life is longer and more comfortable – but surely it is getting less wholesome, right?
Here’s one that appeals to everybody. Life expectancy has expanded faster in the last 100 years than it did over the previous 5000 years. We all have the feeling that we’re running out of time, there’s too much to do, and we’ll never have a moment to ourselves. But the truth is that we’ve never had so much time.
Are people getting any smarter over time?
Yes, actually IQ scores are up 15 points over the last 50 years. We have a tendency to think that modern life is incompatible with learning, but the the reality is that people have better access to learning opportunities, not just schools but self-directed learning.
What does a person walk away with after reading UP?
You walk away with a powerful, affirmative message that life is getting better, not worse. Life keeps getting longer, more interesting, and more rewarding. It's better today than it was a few years ago, a few decades ago, a few centuries ago. Reading UP! is a chance to build a little confidence, to build a little energy and anticipation for what what you have and what comes next.
