Age of the Overview Effect
Key thing has been the return of globalization and globalism, much more advanced and fair.
Borderless. Sustainable. Free. People look back on 2020 as a parochial, dangerous time that pushed the world, with much difficulty and conflict, ultimately to more cooperation over pandemics, climate change and many other challenges.
Story that inspires me is Ted Chiang's The Great Silence:
"As any long-time reader of science fiction can tell you, “The Great Silence” is another name for the Fermi Paradox, and the Fermi Paradox is a meditation on two contradictory truths: 1) the idea that we represent the only intelligence in the universe is preposterous and 2) despite the increasing range of our extraterrestrial search, we have found only silence. Ted Chiang’s very short story, “The Great Silence” adds another set of questions to these speculations. Why, he asks, are we so interested in finding intelligence in the stars and so deaf to the many species who manifest it here on earth?"
Inspiring because there is forgiveness and love for humanity despite their errors.
Image source: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/04/the-blue-marble-shot-our-first-complete-photograph-of-earth/237167/ (Fair Use)
