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The Doomsday Clock is one hundred seconds to midnight.

The move was deemed warranted by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists due to the increasingly perilous state of world affairs: saber-rattling in the Middle East, the dismantling of strategic weapons treaties, the research and development of hypersonic weapons, the chaotic and catastrophic effects of climate change (as well as inaction to combat it), the spread of fake news, and A.I. deregulation, among many others.

They are not alone in tolling the alarm bell: the United Nations Development Programme warned about increasing inequality across the world and the threat it poses to political and social stability, thousands of scientists refer to an unfolding "climate emergency," and political scientists toil away at describing, and explaining, political polarization.

In short, a lot of smart people are saying the world is getting somewhat dangerous and chaotic. At least more than before. And they're right: society is unhinged from prior expectations, and is working with hitherto unseen levels of information. The stakes—and risks—keep on rising.

What's missing from this picture is the other side of the coin: society has been increasingly improving over time, and there have been huge changes for the better in the last decade. Scientific advancements peppered the last decade. Rwandans are delivering medical supplies to the countryside via drones, for crying out loud!

While risks have been on the rise, so have living standards and development progress. To focus on the negative is to unfairly stick to a pessimistic view of mankind, clouding one's judgment of the overall trend which is, undoubtedly, all things considered, positive.

The risks are real, and we are wise to heed the warnings by the experts, but as doomy and gloomy as things may seem, the hands on the clock can always turn backwards.