Question: Are you generally optimistic or pessimistic about the way the world is headed?
Transcript: I see myself as an optimist. But then I define “optimism” as regarding the future with uncertainty. A pessimist says, “Everything is bound to go bad. Everything is bound to go wrong.” The optimist actually says, “You know things just might go right,” but doesn’t exclude the possibility that they might not. I mean the . . . the . . . I’m not a sort of completely unrealistic, Pollyannaish figure who sort of sees the __________ around every turn of the corner. But I do believe there are things we can do to ensure that things happen in a more positive way in whatever field of endeavor we are. And I don’t see human progress as one steady sort of drive uphill or upward. I do believe that there’s enough grounds for hope, and therefore enough grounds to regard the future with uncertainty.
Recorded on: 9/18/07
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