i am more optimistic. i think today knowledge and intelligence are distributed in a much more democratic way among the people. together with the increasing availability of all kinds of information many people realize how much *more* could be done. this kind of insatisfaction is what gets us going

on the other hand, people in "well-fed" environments are beginning to use information very selectively because they dont feel the urge to get better in any way. they are really dumbing down, but this is not significant, since more people in other places are beginning to fill their gap. like this some cycle of motivation and reward can always be maintained, some human way of circling around some invisible poles.