The past is terrible. It's full of wretchedness, cruelty, inhumanity, brutality, and disgrace. Some seem to think this makes us particularly enlightened, since we don't have the same levels of depravity. But we didn't create the world we were given, a world which is largely free of the blights of poverty and violence, at least as compared to the past. So why are we so confident that we're the best the world has seen? This episode is for people who want to have a better philosophy for understanding history and understanding who we are today.