Humanity evolved 300,000 years ago 290,000 of which we spent in dirt huts. Then we built supercomputers, went to space, and split the atom. It all happened in t

Humanity evolved 300,000 years ago 290,000 of which we spent in dirt huts. Then we built supercomputers, went to space, and split the atom. It all happened in the blink of an eye. Zero growth is what we've seen for most of humanity. Our present growth means we're doing a lot right. The main problem, as I see it, is that the slow grind forward can be more than offset by disastrous setbacks. Wars. Famines. Dark ages. Collapses of democracy or civil rights. It's not "moral courage" or lack of forward progress we should be worried about. I'm confident the upside will take care of itself. Humanity will continue to invent and innovate because it's in our nature. As long as we don't blow up the civilizations we've built we're going to be just fine. This might require courage, but not the kind of moral exceptionalism Bregman is thinking of.