An optimistic take on the world

December 21, 2007 5:59 PM

My parents have been reading a lot of pretty pessimistic, doomsday books about the US, world, etc. I'd like to get them a book that has a more optimistic outlook, without being naive. Any suggestions, oh hive mind? I'm not too picky about topics, but I'd prefer broader rather than narrower.
posted by devilsbrigade to media & arts (25 comments total)

A Short History of Nearly Everything
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 6:07 PM on December 21, 2007

This or this or this?
posted by orthogonality at 6:17 PM on December 21, 2007

I actually found Obama's The Audacity of Hope to be an oddly refreshing, upbeat look at the possibilities for the US.

As should be obvious by the author, this is a pretty partisan suggestion, but part of what excited me so much is that he does a lot more than just praise Democrats and bash Republicans.
posted by fogster at 6:21 PM on December 21, 2007

It's not a book, but a magazine - Ode. Intelligently written and shows how people across the world are turning our world around through their resourceful creations, piece by piece.
posted by healthyliving at 6:23 PM on December 21, 2007

Noam Chomsky's Understanding Power is in this genre but is probably more bright than dark. I'm afraid the more positive books are going to be written mainly by advocates of globalism.
posted by chips ahoy at 6:23 PM on December 21, 2007

With some reservations, I might recommend Collapse by Jared Diamond. Of course, focusing on "failed" societies may not sound very optimistic, but I thought Diamond's overall points were relatively optimistic. The ability to reflect on mistakes made by other societies could one of our most useful tools in keeping us from the brink.
posted by otolith at 6:53 PM on December 21, 2007

Easterbrook's the Progress Paradox is about 60 pages of spectacular refutation of the "everything is getting worse" thesis. Unfortunately it is about 180 pages long.

Still, read the first third of it and you won't be able to take the doomsayers seriously anymore. Basic thesis: everybody's life is spectacularly better and getting better all the time. Rich and poor alike are much better off than they have ever been at any point in history.
posted by mrbugsentry at 6:59 PM on December 21, 2007 [2 favorites]

World War Z?
posted by slavlin at 7:03 PM on December 21, 2007 [1 favorite]

I've been meaning to read this, it might fit the bill.
posted by you're a kitty! at 7:11 PM on December 21, 2007

I also recommend anything by Carl Sagan. A excellent writer and great thinker about humanity and our place in the universe. I'm currently reading The Varieties of Scientific Experience and I'm looking forward to reading Pale Blue Dot. I've heard some people say that his writing has gotten dated, but I've found a lot of great material to chew on in his books.

The Whale and the Supercomputer is a recent book about climate change and the effects that it has already had on indigenous people near the Arctic Circle. I thought it was a good book on a complex subject and it cuts to the idea of how adaptable humans can be in the face of global changes.
posted by otolith at 7:23 PM on December 21, 2007

I'm afraid the more positive books are going to be written mainly by advocates of globalism.

That's sort of the point. Globalism isn't going to eat your children. It brings good things and bad things. It's good that people can save thousands of dollars a year by shopping at Wal-Mart. It's bad that Wal-Mart isn't always a good corporate citizen. Etc.

And on that note. This is a very balanced look at Wal-Mart that talks about the good and the bad. I think your parents will like a mixed approach.
posted by Pants! at 7:46 PM on December 21, 2007

actually found Obama's The Audacity of Hope to be an oddly refreshing, upbeat look at the possibilities for the US.

I couldn't agree more. The whole point is to change the context.
posted by R. Mutt at 8:31 PM on December 21, 2007

Hm. Not a book but a magazine. The Economist's yearly outlook is always like "everything will get better next year!"
posted by yoyo_nyc at 8:35 PM on December 21, 2007

Well, if you want the exact opposite of man-made doomsday, I would say that would be The Singularity is Near by Kurzweil. That might be a wee bit off from your parents' normal fare, though...
posted by madmethods at 9:01 PM on December 21, 2007

What Are You Optimistic About?: Today39;s Leading Thinkers on Why Things Are Good and Getting Better: "The nightly news and conventional wisdom tell us that things are bad and getting worse. Yet despite dire predictions, scientists see many good things on the horizon. John Brockman, publisher of Edge (www.edge.org), the influential online salon, recently asked more than 150 high-powered scientific thinkers to answer a vital question for our frequently pessimistic times: 'What are you optimistic about?'"

Also, the book "Feeling Good" is a classic.
posted by mecran01 at 10:52 PM on December 21, 2007 [1 favorite]

I'll happily raise a toast to the above-mentioned Easterbrook book, "The Progress Paradox". I bought copies for five people last Christmas and gave several more copies as gifts this year. It's terrific.

(And if you're a football fan, don't miss Easterbrook's TMQ (Tuesday Morning Quarterback), published nearly every Tuesday at ESPN's Page2 site.)
posted by GatorDavid at 2:10 AM on December 22, 2007

I'm varying the topic by excluding the sociology with this suggestion. I got a copy of The World Without Us for my birthday this year, and I found it refreshingly optimistic for the world itself, if not the humans which reside on it.
posted by SDH30 at 9:04 AM on December 22, 2007

Colin Tudge's Feeding People Is Easy might be good. It's very readable and very optimistic, though it focuses specifically on agriculture, sustainability, and other food issues. You'd be surprised how broad those sorts of topics end up being, though.
posted by bubukaba at 1:11 PM on December 22, 2007

My wife recommends The impossible will take a little while. Not so much the views of the author, but more the stories themselves.
posted by swordfishtrombones at 1:27 PM on December 22, 2007

If they're not offended by conservativism:

"It’s Getting Better All the Time" by Stephen Moore and Julian L. Simon.

The 24-page introduction of this book is the main part - the authors' summations - so it's a quick read. The rest of the book is tables/charts that present the same information. It’s a highly readable and persuasive (although not perfect) argument for the title -- that life in general is actually getting better and easier, rather than more difficult. The opening sentence of the introduction says, “The central premise of this book is that there has been more improvement in the human condition in the past 100 years than in all of the previous centuries combined since man first appeared on the earth.”
posted by onemorething at 2:37 PM on December 22, 2007

Good news for a change which covers environmental optimism.
posted by Serial Killer Slumber Party at 2:57 PM on December 22, 2007

There are a lot of books written by biostitutes (aka scientists who shill for orgs that are funded by oil and energy companies) that present cases against climate change. Tom Friedman sings hosannas about globalization in his books.
posted by HotPatatta at 4:57 PM on December 22, 2007

following onemorething, I offer The Good News Is The Bad News Is Wrong. My caveats are that I have not read it and so cannot critique, and that it was published over twenty years ago. That said, some of the points alluded to suggest no great change from the old days.

Taking an opposite tack, that is, that things could be and have been a whole lot worse and not so very long ago, you could try The Good Old Days - They Were Terrible!

Do they have a political bias? Might help in shaping selections.
posted by IndigoJones at 5:06 PM on December 22, 2007

Seconding What Are You Optimistic About?
posted by peacheater at 11:22 AM on December 23, 2007

Just came across this list at Asia Times.
posted by IndigoJones at 3:20 PM on December 23, 2007