Concise Title: Global Trends Every Smart Individual Should Know

According to author Jordan B. Peterson, learning this material has "lifted some of the existential weight" from him. Things are not as dire as they are often portrayed to be; in fact, the world is quite a bit better, and it is continuing to improve. We are doing a better job than we may have thought, and there is more to humanity than we realize. We are rapidly adopting our responsibilities as stewards of the planet.

However, a survey conducted in 2016 found that 58% of people across 17 countries believed the world is either getting worse or staying the same, rather than improving. The situation was even more pessimistic in the United States, where 65% thought the world is getting worse and only 6% believed it was getting better. This book aims to persuade readers that this dark view of the prospects for humanity and the natural world is largely mistaken, based on uncontroversial data on major global trends.

For instance, the world population is expected to peak at 8-9 billion before the end of this century, as the global fertility rate continues to decline from 6 children per woman in 1960 to the current rate of 2.4. Additionally, the global absolute poverty rate has fallen from 42% in 1981 to 8.6% today. Satellite data also show that forest area has been expanding since 1982, and natural resources are becoming ever cheaper and more abundant. Furthermore, the average life expectancy has more than doubled since 1900, now exceeding 72 years.

Of course, significant challenges such as climate change, marine plastic pollution, and declining wildlife populations remain. However, many of these problems are already in the process of being ameliorated as a result of the favorable economic, social, and technological trends documented in this book.

In conclusion, the author argues that you cannot fix what is wrong in the world if you do not know what is actually happening. This book, "Ten Global Trends Every Smart Person Should Know," aims to provide busy people with quick-to-read, easily understandable, and entertaining access to surprising facts about how the world is truly faring, contrary to the prevailing pessimistic narrative.

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