For many of us, the unbridled joy of seeing 2016 end is legitimate. It has been a year of tragedy with natural disasters, political madness and religious extremism. From the Bastille Day massacre in Nice to the killings of civilians in Aleppo, there is a lot to lose your sleep over. Then there was the shooting in Orlando, there was Brexit, there was Donald Trump, there was a failed referendum for peace in Columbia, there was a president impeached for corruption in Brazil and there were dozens of political scandals in Mauritius. There was pain. There was disappointment.

Yet, in spite of what mass media would like us to believe, 2016 is not the worst year in recorded history. Not that our attention should turn to trying to find out which was the actual worst year. It does not matter. Mankind is moving forward, with all of the positives and the ineluctable mistakes. After all, we are only human. 

Steven Pinker, cognitive scientist and professor at Harvard University, argued in an interview with Vox that we should ‘look at history and data, not headlines.’ According to him, the world is getting better by the day with reduced extreme poverty, child mortality, illiteracy and global inequality. It is not always easy to see those improvements because they don’t make headlines, they don’t sell newspapers or make people switch to the news on TV. 

As for the reality of the different wars in the world today, it is sometimes too painful to admit. The most significant ones are happening in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Syria and in African countries plagued by the Boko Haram insurgency. However, we seem to suffer from selective memory. Regardless of how unrealistic it might sound, we are probably living in the most peaceful time in human history. Not so many years ago, the world was filled with mega wars involving dozens of nations as well as being host to genocides in countries like Rwanda and Indonesia. There were millions of deaths. Not anymore.

There were also many incredible things that happened this year. A solar powered plane travelled around the world, an achievement that could change the way we travel for a better, cleaner future. The viral ice bucket challenge helped significantly in research for an effective treatment against ALS. Scientists found an aerosol that could help cool the planet and repair the ozone layer at the same time. The Paris Agreement was ratified by the required number of countries. Giant pandas are also not an endangered species anymore!

It would be unfair to say that 2016 has been a good year. It is important that we measure our argument. It is also essential that we don’t fall prey to the lure of doom and gloom. There are a few major bumps on our road but we are on the right track. Keep your head up!

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