 There's a lot of wonder in the world, and I tweeted and wrote about Facebook on the story that I read, which I found amazing. And that is that for the first time in the US, they have managed to edit the human genome in embryo. So they've managed to go into an embryo and change its DNAs. And as far as they can tell, without polluting the rest of the DNA. So this has been done in China several times, but it had failed. In a sense that, yes, they managed to change the one gene that they were targeting, but at the same time they changed other genes that they didn't want to. And this is for the first time, supposedly, if the study is right and if the story is right. This is the first time where they've used this CRISPR, which is this new technology for gene editing. Where they have targeted a specific gene, a gene that's defective, that causes birth defects. And they've managed to change it so that theoretically, if this embryo was placed in the womb of a woman and carried to term, it would not have the genetic defect that it was supposed to have. They did this on over a hundred embryos. So they took eggs and they took sperm from males who had this genetic issue and they impregnated the eggs. And at the point of making the egg pregnant, in a sense, that they inserted this thing, I don't understand science enough to tell you what this thing is, to change the genes. It's called this CRISPR. This CRISPR is this technology. And it's unbelievable, right? So you could basically take genetic diseases out there and I would argue that, and many people have argued that many of the diseases we have today are basically genetic. And you can manipulate the genes at the level of the embryo before it first divides so that every cell from then on has the corrective gene. I think this is amazing. Now, I know all of you out there are scared, you know, what if bad guys get a hold of this technology? They're going to make a whole race of blue-eyed, blonde, Hitler youth and so on and so forth. But yeah, and yet they're dangerous. Every technology can be used for evil and it's dangerous. But wow, I just love it when the human mind invents new ways to control nature. It is so cool and there's so many good things that can be done here. Think about all the wonderful, wonderful things about curing diseases that can be done here. So this is a huge advancement in technology and medicine and science. And it's just terrific to see and it's terrific that, you know, we get to live and see this too. And I view it. Yes, there's danger, but the benefits far, far away the dangers of such stuff. It's the same with artificial intelligence and robots that people are so afraid of. Even Elon Musk, the robots are going to take over the world. Cool down, man. The benefits of these things far away the risks and the dangers of something bad happening. Yeah, they could happen. They could happen. But so could nuclear technology be used for a bomb? Yeah, it was used for a bomb and but for the most part the good guys have controlled the use of that bomb and it hasn't been used too badly, you know, in any bad way yet. Every technology can be used for evil. But I believe in human beings. I believe in our ability to create great things and do great things with technology and improve life on this planet. When we get back, I want to talk about improving life on the planet and where we are. Is life as horrible as so many people on left and right would like us to believe? Listen to your one book show on the Blaze radio network. All right, so we're back and unfortunately we only have like five and a half minutes or so to talk about some positive things other than the gene splicing technology. But we're going to have to do a whole show about this because there is now a new movement, if you will, among sudden intellectuals called the new optimists. I like it. I think that's cool, right? The new optimists. It's led by most Europeans, as many of these intellectual movements tend to be. Primarily by John Norberg from Sweden, Matt Ridley from the UK, and Stephen Pinker. Stephen Pinker might be an American or a Brit. I'm not sure. Anyway, important intellectuals in our time. And the basic idea that the new optimists are advocating for is that we under-report and don't seem to value all the good news that is happening all around us all the time. For example, just a few things, right? Child mortality has roughly gone down by half since 1990. Since 1990 it's gone down by half. And additional 300,000 more people gain access to electricity every single day. The number of people in extreme poverty fell by 137,000 people since yesterday. So basically every day, right? So there is massive good stuff. Food, sanitation, life expectancy, poverty, violence. We'll get to violence in a minute. The state of the environment, how clean the air in the water we consume is. Literacy, even freedom, equality before the law, and conditions of childhood have all globally improved. They improved dramatically and are improving every single day. Right now, as we speak, they're getting better. As recently as 1882, only 2% of homes in New York had running water. In 1900, worldwide life expectancy was a poultry 31 years. That's unbelievable, right? Worldwide life expectancy today, worldwide is 71 from 31, right? So in terms of violence, violence is interesting. According to Stephen Pinker's book, The Better Angels of Our Nature, which I strongly recommend, particularly the first half of it. We are living in the least violent period in human history with ISIS, with what's going on in Syria, with the massacres and wars in, you know, Africa. With all the violence in Chicago, with all the violence all over the U.S., you know, that Donald Trump has convinced us is, you know, going through the roof, right? With all of the horrible stuff going on in the world. If you look at rates of death and wars, murder, rape, even bully, all down, all in steep decline. We live from this perspective in the best era, the best period in human history. Now, there are other things that aren't so good, and another time we can talk about those, and they're very important. But from a material perspective, from a material perspective, there's never been a better time today. And this is important. This is important. I would add that it is all a consequence of enlightenment thinking. It's all a consequence of the discovery or the rediscovery of the efficacy of reason. The bringing in of reason into civilization and replacing mystical revelation as a source of knowledge, replacing superstition and sticking to science and reason and knowledge. Real knowledge. And while we in the West, in the United States and Western Europe, are losing that, and we, I still believe, are in decline. The rest of the world is discovering the enlightenment, at least in some sense. The idea of individualism. The fact that the individualism ended himself. The fact that the purpose of politics is to protect the individual in the individual's life. That is on the rise everywhere in the world, except, you know, the West and certain parts of the Middle East. So globally, things are getting better, as things in the United States and Europe, if not getting the grammatically worse, suddenly heading in the wrong direction. Alright. You've been listening to the Iran Book Show, we're on the Blaze Radio Network. Talk to you next week, same time, same place.