There is plenty of suffering in the world, and who could wish to belittle it, but that's no reason or excuse to give in to pessimism. The world is more peacefu

There is plenty of suffering in the world, and who could wish to belittle it, but that's no reason or excuse to give in to pessimism. The world is more peaceful today than at any time in history. Infant mortality in Africa is decreasing, despite the complex political and economic problems that beset many countries there. Startups are important because they are attempts to solve complex problems and with every failure more knowledge is created. (They are also symbols of optimism.) Thus, human effort is important in the scheme of things. Even the cosmological scheme of things: pretty soon we'll have the technology to deflect asteroids and comets. We might eventually, if we want, go on to defuse all the local supernovae (by removing matter from the relevant stars).