Renowned psychologist Steven Pinker is here to convince you not everything is going to shit

If you pay attention to the news on a regular basis, it can often feel like the world is crumbling before your eyes. The last year alone has been marred with massive data breaches, assaults on human rights, and tawdry presidential scandals, all happening with the threat of a warming planet looming large.

Here to ease your general feelings of despair is renowned psychologist and author of Enlightenment Now: The Case For Reason, Science, Humanism, And Progress, Steven Pinker. As Pinker tells us, our media is saturated with images of despair and dystopia, but that doesn’t tell the full story of everything happening on earth. In fact, there’s plenty to celebrate.