“If someone had to choose a moment in time to be born, you would choose today. We are living in the most peaceful, prosperous and progressive era in human history.” — Barack Obama
Point taken. Obama wants to give us perspective. To make us appreciate what we have. It would have sound right even if Obama was the Roman emperor 2000 years ago or even the Ruler of Mesopotamia 5000 years ago.
But what if you really got a chance to choose your time?
There are many options for someone looking for another ‘moment in time to be born’. Our specie, Homo sapiens, have been around for about 70,000 years (so you have ±37 billion moments to choose from). Reading this post means that you’re one of 7.4 billion people alive, as well as a member of a larger club of 108 billion people that were ever born on this planet.
The world is indeed more peaceful than before, assuming current casualties by acts of war and violence are your benchmark. It is by far more prosperous, especially if you think that Gross Domestic Product is a fair gauge for prosperity. Advancements in science and technology are growing exponentially, showing a clear improvement over time. That’s progress.
Is it a guarantee that anyone would be happier being born today? Nah…
Regrettably, there are still too many unfortunate people leaving today. One’s that right now are in a life threatening situation due to war, famine, a medical situation that progress still can’t cure or a natural disaster we couldn’t foresee coming. So even today, there are people so unlucky that they may wish to be born in another place or another time.
Most of us though, would choose today as Obama suggests. And the same would apply to most people ever alive at any given time in history (and probably in the future).
Why? Not because now is absolutely better than before. This might be true for the median or the average, but not for you. By design of our evolution, our brain is wired to stick to the familiar and dislike change. Sure, we are curious to know about the past and maybe even more so about the future. Yet being a mental ‘tourist’ is one thing and becoming a real ‘resident’ is another.
By definition, we can only evaluate periods in history from our own perspective of the present. But what if you could choose to be born in the future, in an era promised to be even more peaceful, prosperous and progressive? Would you? I wouldn’t.
