That is part of what is so frustrating. The world, but especially the US, has made amazing strides in so many fields of science and technology . I am sure that we already have the means and methods to feed, clothe, and shelter everyone on the planet. We also could give everyone reasonable healthcare, which will improve every year, a cheap, renewable form of energy, and a decent standard of living.

But I don’t know if humans, the way we are currently designed, have the skills to do that. Over the last 200,000 years, humans have developed the adaptive skills of making fast, emotional decisions that will serve each of us, as individuals, to do what is best for the next three hours. After that, we will see what’s happening, and decide again.

But those skills don’t work that well any more. We have designed a world that is much more complex. What you see isn’t usually what you get. The virus has shown clearly that all of our lives overlap. We have to cooperate. We have to learn how to do some long-term planning. We have to develop more critical thinking, or what Kahneman calls “thinking slowly.”

I don’t see signs of that happening fast enough. But maybe this world-wide crisis will create change.

Still waiting and hoping.