Book review:

Do you worry about everything?

Are you concerned about the environment – the loss of habitat, the loss of species, and the bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef corals?

Are you concerned about violence – murders, rapes, domestic violence, terrorism and war?

Are you concerned about diminishing resources - will population growth, inadequate food supply and the depletion of the minerals we rely upon be catastrophic?

Are you concerned about natural disasters - floods, droughts, and wildfires?

Are you concerned that everyone is doing it tough - not only in the third world but also in your own country?

You are not alone. Most people share your concerns.

Stephen Pinker suggests your worries are due to the daily news!

There are two ways to understand the world: a constant drip of anecdotes about the worst things that have happened anywhere on the planet in the previous hour, or a bird's-eye view of the grand developments that are transforming the human condition. The first is called 'the news', and for your wisdom and mental health I recommend balancing it with the second.

Ten Global Trends Every Smart Person Should Know is a pleasure: gorgeous, self-contained vignettes on human progress, which you can sample at your leisure or devour in a sitting.

If you would like to stop being worried all the time, you will need to know what is actually happening. Bailey and Tupy's book provides that information.

Here is a sample: