This week’s program was brought to you by a jackass. Oh no, wait; that’s just how Glenn Oyoung described himself as the Sergeant at Arms. While it is true that there is a great deal of humor in his position, it is actually the position that requires the most amount of work, preparation and intelligence. So, great job Glenn! No, you are not as you refer to yourself but a true talent.  On the topic of intelligence, President Wilson decided to appeal to our intelligence with a TED Talk as this week’s program.

TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages. The Talk President Wilson highlighted was by Steven Pinker and entitled “Is the world getting better or worse? A look at numbers.” I will spoil the ending for you. Based on his numbers, the world seems to be getting better.

In his Talk, Steven Pinker looked at several factors today versus 30 years ago. Based on these factors, we see an upward trend in progress. He gave brief mention to the role of the media in our perception that there is not an upward trend in progress. To highlight his theme he showed a cartoon from The Onion, which stated “CNN holds morning meeting to decide what viewers should panic about for the rest of the day.” He said “If it bleeds, it leads.”

Steven Pinker concluded that while human nature is the problem, it is also the solution. But, again, his numbers and data show that we have made progress. Oh yeah, and buy his book.

We were then given the following questions by President Wilson to consider at our respective tables:
1. What resonated with you in Dr. Pinker’s message?
2. What, if any, challenges do you have for Dr. Pinker’s assertions?
3. How do you see “fear” being used as a tool by the media, politicians, etc., to make us think things are worse than ever?
4. What “problems” do you think we need to solve in the world today to keep making progress?

What are your thoughts? At my table, homelessness and the lack of affordable housing were problems that we thought should be solved today to keep making progress. At another table, stifling polarization of Congress in America. At another table, whether Bob Harbicht should replace the hood ornament on the 1930’s car Jim Helms bought new, when it first came out, with a chicken breast. Not so much on the last one, but we look forward to future TED Talks.