For those of you a little tired of the bleak interpretations of the modern era and where we are headed I highly recommend the latest episode of Making Sense with Sam Harris, #170: The Great Uncoupling.

In this episode Sam spoke with Andrew McAfee and the title refers to the modern uncoupling of societal prosperity from resource consumption. They discussed the virtues of capitalism, the importance of technological progress, the need for better environmental policy, how the developing world will benefit from contemporary technology when going through their own “industrial revolution”, and generally about how an appropriate optimism for our future is justified.