half-full or half-empty?

On my bedside (it's a big stack and getting bigger)(because I'm distracted) is a new book entitled "Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age" by Maggie Jackson. It is all about how technology is splintering our focus and making us all seem as if we have ADHD.
That's certainly a valid problem, but reading the book, I wonder about the subtitle. I do agree we all have to work harder to find face-time these days, and that this is sad, to say the least, yet I'm increasingly convinced that the Internet is pulling people together in ways we've never been before. And that this has tremendous potential for helping to repair the world.
One thing the Dalai Lama said in Seattle that struck me as so inspiring is that despite all the truly frightening news in the world, "people are getting better." Violence is going down, many kinds of cooperation are increasing. Consider the explosive recent growth in non-profits that are channeling people's best intentions, the fact that Silicon Valley gazillionaires aren't waiting until the Pearly Gates are in sight to start distributing their wealth.... I spoke today with Steven Swig, the founder of San Francisco'sPresidio College, who said that when he founded his school, which now offers an MBA in "sustainable management," he was "swimming against the tide." There were only two similar programs in the United States. Now there are more than a dozen. And half of this year's class chose the sustainable business path even though they had a choice of a more major business school.
Swig is convinced America is moving back to "community values" after a long period of individuality that didn't make anyone truly happy. He says there have been similar shifts in the past -- for instance from the Robber Baron days to Roosevelt's caring-government era. I asked him why he felt so convinced of this, and he answered: Obama!
A sentiment with which I can't help but agree. I just hope we all evolve sufficiently in time to cope with global warming...