The Paradox of Value

“The eras of misery have been mythologized and may even be remembered as golden ages of pastoral simplicity. They were not.” — Nathan Rosenberg

I came across a section in Steven Pinker’s Enlightenment Now, a voluminous tome whose mission statement seeks to set the record straight on the age of Enlightenment. 

His underlying message? We’ve never had it so good.

Yet you’d be hard-pressed to see this kind of message in any metropolitan paper across the world today (or any other day). 

In a chapter titled Wealth, Pinker cites the work of the economist Adam Smith and his theories surrounding the paradox of value. Here’s Smith’s theory in a nutshell:

The more plentiful an important product, the more affordable it becomes to manufacture and purchase. 

It’s incredible to realize how affordable technology has become in a matter of decades. Technology that was once reserved exclusively for the 1% now in the hands of billions of souls.

When we take time to acknowledge just how exciting this current moment is in the scheme of human history, it helps us to step back and smell the roses.

To make sure we’re putting our energy in all the right places. 

Xo