Hopeful People Share How They Remain Optimistic In Spite Of All The Negative Headlines
"Gray skies are gonna clear up, Put on a happy face;
Brush off the clouds and cheer up, Put on a happy face."
- "Put On A Happy Face" from Bye Bye Birdie
Reddit user thisisbillgates asked "With all of the negative headlines dominating the news these days, it can be difficult to spot signs of progress. What makes you optimistic about the future?"
Here is the good news and the hopeful advice.
The Good Life
Whenever I feel down, I remember that I literally live better than many Kings of the past. They might have had massive political and financial power, but they didn't have hot water and plumbing, air conditioning, fridges and microwaves, they didn't have Netflix or video games or VR!!!
Tomorrow is a New Day
I'm reminded of Sam's speech to Frodo in Osgiliath in the Two Towers: "It's like in the great stories Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you, that meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. Folks in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn't. Because they were holding on to something...That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it's worth fighting for."
Travel
The increasing easiness of travelling anywhere in the world. This is what I'm looking forward to.
Mars & RPG
The fact that humanity is getting another mini space race going on. I'd love to see a man set foot on Mars in my lifetime! That, and of course just getting to spend time with all my friends to play Dungeons and Dragons every week.
Stigmas Erased
Mental illness awareness is growing rapidly, and people are more and more willing to assist those in need.
Not only that, but people with mental illness are become less and less ashamed of said illnesses and actually seeking out help. Stigma goes both ways.
The Future is Now
I have a NeuroPace in my brain to help control seizures. Responsive Neuro Stimulation. I'm on the first few steps of transhumanism and I wake up every day realizing that this cutting edge technology in my skull will one day be the "pegleg" of neurological procedures.
Influenza Relief
Japan just _approved a medicine _that they claim can cure the flu in one day. The merging of medicine and technology is extremely fascinating.
Surgical Map
I saw a _video of a prototype _that was virtual scan of someone's body, inside and out. You could remove organs and see what was under them. If that can catch on it will dramatically help surgeons plan for more successful outcomes.
No Longer Doomed to Repeat
Understanding of history. We are at a certain point in time, during which we are well aware of what happened in the past. This is a newly available, highly useful feature of our generation. Hopefully it lasts.
Medicine
We're almost at the point where we get artificial organs. I could use a kidney.
The Final Frontier
Space.
So much is unknown right now. Excited to see what can come in the future.
Quality of Life
Advancements in health studies and science for health has improved living conditions ten fold and continue to do so. So that makes me pretty optimistic.
Physics
Evidence of the Higgs Boson and the gravitational wave detection from LIGO were both pretty big news.
Exploration
The James Webb Space Telescope is going to bring about many new discoveries.
CRISPR
Advancements in medicine and gene therapy. The CRISPR technology has me very excited.
Listen Closely to the Silence
The good news is often quiet and subtle. The bad news is always loud. I try to remember that.
Cures
People are talking about cancer cure here. Stanford Medicine made the biggest breakthrough in history just last month. They cured 90 out of 90 infected mice.
Advancements
Solar energy + desalination + gene therapy.
Will They Roast on an Open Fire?
The possible return of the American Chestnut tree. Fast growing, rot resistant and, perhaps most important, it produces enough calories from the nuts to feed a population.
Buzzing With Excitement
All 7 of my Honeybee colonies are currently surviving the winter, and today they're bringing in the first pollen of the year.
Also, please support Native Bees, as well as *butterflies like the Monarch, and bats!
There are some truly strange laws depending on where you go. Here is a list of the weirdest ones.
U/Bone_Donor asked: What is the stupidest law where you live?
Did you know that murder is allowed in certain instances, depending on where you go? Talk about scary.
I’m sure no one will test these laws.
Not sure how much of it is true. But apparently if the Swedes cross the border by walking over the ice given its frozen over, (which it hasn't in like more than 100 years) we are allowed to kill them.
There's an old law in York in the UK that says if a Scotsman is within the city walls after sundown you can kill them with a longbow. I assume no one has tested the law for a while.
The exact gates they have to be within are defined but I don't remember what they are.
Dying is illegal in France.
Kate Mckinnon Snl GIF by Saturday Night LiveGiphyOh boy. France has some history and a love of regulation. Perfect mix for absurd laws. Quick examples:
It's still technically mandatory to have hay at home in case the king's horse is nearby and needs some... Horses have been a pretty rare sight, let alone kings.
A mayor made it illegal to die in his town. The initial problem was an overcrowded cemetery, but he kinda reached the wrong solution.
This probably isn’t enforced anymore.
There is a medieval law here that has never been repealed: all males over the age of 14 are required by law to practice longbow for at least two hours per week.
Some of these laws are so silly, they make you wonder what event happened that put them in place.
I think everyone has done this.
"Forbidden to pee in the ocean". I live in Portugal.
'Like a piss in the ocean' is literally a euphemism for something not mattering. What's the problem?
Tigers are fine, though.
film history GIF by DiggGiphyIt's illegal to bring a lion to the movies.
Somebody better have a conversation with MGM.
Define “suspiciously”.
You can't carry a salmon suspiciously.
"Sir, what were carrying this salmon close to your body? Were you going to use it as a weapon?"
"No officer, I was going to eat it later"
"Seems suspicious you were carrying it around in public. I'm gonna have to take you in for questioning."
"Nuuuuu!"
What is the backstory here?
It's illegal to sleep on top of a refrigerator outdoors here.
I know this is Pennsylvania, but I forget the exact reasoning, but I think it has something to do with homeless people.
These next few laws will definitely make you question these towns’ legitimacy when it comes to lawmaking.
Poor raccoons.
raccoon stealing GIFGiphyIn Virginia, it's illegal to "hunt or kill any wild bird or wild animal, including any nuisance species" on Sundays. However, it is permissible to kill raccoons.
How the heck is this enforced?
I don't know if this is still a thing anymore, but in Texas it used to be illegal to own more than six dildos.
It's illegal to own any at all in Alabama unless the owner has a letter from a doctor claiming a legitimate medical need.
Granted, most of these laws were written a very long time ago. But it makes you wonder, what the heck were these original lawmakers doing? And what event happened that needed these laws to be enforced at all?
If some of these laws don't make you want to be a criminal, then I don't know what will