This dovetails with the thesis of writer Gregg Easterbrook's 2003 book, The Progress Paradox. He proposes a thought experiment: Would you permanently trade pla

This dovetails with the thesis of writer Gregg Easterbrook's 2003 book, The Progress Paradox. He proposes a thought experiment: Would you permanently trade places with a random person who lived, say, 100 years ago? His view was that your answer would probably be "no." [EDIT: Easterbrook's point was that this is a quick, back-of-the-envelope demonstration of the following proposition: Overall, life for the human race has indeed been improving, albeit unevenly and non-monotonically to be sure. His book was a response to the doom-and-gloom crowd who complain that life is going to hell in a handbasket.] (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregg_Easterbrook#Wellness_and_satisfaction http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregg_Easterbrook#Wellness_and_...) A few years ago I took a stab at extending the thought experiment at http://www.questioningchristian.com/2006/03/progress_hope_a.html http://www.questioningchristian.com/2006/03/progress_hope_a.....