# Progress Makes Me Optimistic About the Future by Kevin Kelly > “I am optimistic about the only thing—by definition—that we can be optimistic about: the future. When I tally up the plus and minuses at work in the world, I see progress. Tomorrow looks like it will be better than today. Not just progress for me, but for everyone on the planet in aggregate and on average.” > **— Kevin Kelly**, *2007 Edge Annual Question, response passage* ## Sources and Context - **Direct publication and locator:** [Editor-At-Large, Wired; Author, New Rules for the New Economy — Kevin Kelly](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/10237) — 2007 Annual Question response, the full representative extract. - **Exact original excerpt:** “I am optimistic about the only thing—by definition—that we can be optimistic about: the future. When I tally up the plus and minuses at work in the world, I see progress. Tomorrow looks like it will be better than today. Not just progress for me, but for everyone on the planet in aggregate and on average.” - **Context and editing:** The poster keeps Kelly’s first-person judgment and his “in aggregate and on average” scope rather than presenting optimism as a universal finding. The poster is the complete archived sentence or passage. - **Local Edge archive:** [[research/Edge 2007 Full Quotation Curation|Edge 2007 Full Quotation Curation]], response EDGE2007-138. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Greatest Transformation in Human History|The Greatest Transformation in Human History]] - **Article:** [[articles/An Order of Operation|An Order of Operation]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Technology|Technology]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Technology|Technology]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “I am optimistic about the only thing—by definition—that we can be optimistic about: the future. When I tally up the plus and minuses at work in the world, I see progress. Tomorrow looks like it will be better than today. Not just progress for me, but for everyone on the planet in aggregate and on average.” — Kevin Kelly, 2007 Edge Annual Question, response passage https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-kevin-kelly-progress-makes-me-optimistic-about-future ```