A review by borumi
Do Humankind's Best Days Lie Ahead?: The Munk Debates by Alain de Botton, Matt Ridley, Steven Pinker, Malcolm Gladwell

2.0

I could see what Alain de Botton was driving at, but his argument did seem a bit out of place and he doesn't seem to be listening to the opposing argument. Personally, I think the problem of whether humankind's best days lie ahead or not is not as important as what kind of attitude we should have despite the good or bad prospects. Whether you're a Cassandra or a Pollyanna, neither should you throw up your hands and not strive for the better, nor should you be overconfident and take all precautions (Malcolm Gladwell has a good point: all previous upward looking trends does not completely guarantee a disaster proof future.) I'm also sorry that the debate didn't go any deeper than the pre-debate interviews.