All optimistic beliefs can be dangerous – potentially appealing fictions – because they’re so comforting, so easy to accept without asking further questions.

The optimism bias protects us from accurately perceiving the pain and difficulties the future undoubtedly holds, and it may defend us from viewing our options in life as somewhat limited. As a result, stress and anxiety are reduced, physical and mental health are improved, and the motivation to act and be productive is enhanced.

Most good things happened because of a reaction to a bad thing. So one reason I’m optimistic is specifically because I know there will be problems that push people into fixing what’s wrong with the world.

optimism is a way of explaining failure, not prophesying success.

Evolution doesn’t teach by showing you what works, but by destroying what doesn’t

The biggest innovations don’t occur when everyone is happy and gainfully employed; they happen when there’s enough stress to push people into gear, forcing problem-solving.

The constant human desire to one-up past successes, and the generational knowledge transfer, is a pure example of compounding in action.

A first-year med student today likely has more medical knowledge than an experienced senior doctor did 50 years ago. The average eight-year-old today knows things about technology that a computer science professor 30 years ago would find bewildering.

Innovation and advancement tend to compound.

Charlie Munger says, “The world is not driven by greed; it’s driven by envy.” You see someone accomplish a new feat and think, “I should be able to do that too – and even better.”

It’s hard to imagine a world where that desire goes away – which makes it hard not to be an optimist.

As crazy as the world is, the core drivers of economic growth are still in place.