--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the past 20 years scientists from very…" description: "\"In the past 20 years scientists from very diverse disciplines - anthropologists, archaeologists, sociologists, psychologists - have all moved to a much..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/743/rutger-bregman-2463_discipline_in-the-past-20-years-scientists-from-ver_2135982.jpg" --- # In the past 20 years scientists from very diverse… ![“In the past 20 years scientists from very diverse disciplines - anthropologists, archaeologists, sociologists, psychologists - have all moved to a much more hopeful, optimistic view of human nature.” quote by Rutger Bregman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/743/rutger-bregman-2463_discipline_in-the-past-20-years-scientists-from-ver_2135982.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/743/rutger-bregman-2463_discipline_in-the-past-20-years-scientists-from-ver_2135982.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/743/rutger-bregman-2463_discipline_in-the-past-20-years-scientists-from-ver_2135982.jpg) > “In the past 20 years scientists from very diverse disciplines - anthropologists, archaeologists, sociologists, psychologists - have all moved to a much more hopeful, optimistic view of human nature.” [Rutger Bregman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutger-bregman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Scientists across fields now see human nature as fundamentally cooperative and optimistic, challenging cynical narratives. **In simple terms:** Researchers now view humans as mostly cooperative. Key Takeaway Embrace optimism about human potential. Themes human nature optimism science cooperation interdisciplinary Mood hopeful inspired Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - policy making - education reform - community building - media narratives Key Concepts evolutionary psychology social theory anthropology Questions to Reflect On - How does this hopeful view affect policy? - What evidence could challenge it? A Different Perspective Optimism may overlook systemic injustices and individual harm. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anthropologists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anthropologists/) [Discipline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discipline/) [Disciplines Anthropologists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disciplines-anthropologists-4424845/) [Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human/) [Human nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-nature/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Scientists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientists/) [Scientists Diverse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientists-diverse-4424844/) [View](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/view/) [Years Scientists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years-scientists-1192818/) ## Related quotes > [I believe that the quantum of our knowledge will increase considerably in the coming years and that scientists will continue to be amongst the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-garrett/i-believe-that-the-quantum-of-our-knowledge-will-increase/) [Peter Garrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-garrett/) > [“signals that populate the brain have come a long way in the last 50 years. Scientists have examined”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/signals-that-populate-the-brain-have-come-a-long-way-in-the-last-50/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Over the past fifty years or so, scientists have allowed the conventions of expression available to them to become entirely too confining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mermin/over-the-past-fifty-years-or-so-scientists-have-allowed-the/) [David Mermin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mermin/) > [Anthropologists are a connecting link between poets and scientists; though their field-work among primitive peoples has often made them forget the language of science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/anthropologists-are-a-connecting-link-between-poets-and-scientists/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [“Income inequality,” say two leading scientists who have studied twenty-four developed countries, “makes us all less happy with our lives, even if we’re relatively…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-bregman/income-inequality-say-two-leading-scientists-who-have-studied-twenty/) [Rutger Bregman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutger-bregman/) > [Consciousness, rather than being an epiphenomenon of matter, is actually the source of matter. It differentiates into space time, energy, information, and matter. Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/consciousness-rather-than-being-an-epiphenomenon-of-matter-is/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [What if the book (of Genesis) is describing a dawning awareness of the world? The anthropologist Edmund Leach has argued that the 'bit' or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-hampden-turner/what-if-the-book-of-genesis-is-describing-a-dawning-awareness-of-the/) [Charles Hampden-Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-hampden-turner/) > [“Increasingly anthropologists are being asked "what can you do for us?" by the people whose societies they are doing research on. It is sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-seeger/increasingly-anthropologists-are-being-asked-what-can-you-do-for-us/) [Anthony Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-seeger/) > [Modernity sees humanity as having ascended from what is inferior to it - life begins in slime and ends in intelligence - whereas traditional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/modernity-sees-humanity-as-having-ascended-from-what-is-inferior-to/) [Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) > [An anthropologist at Tulane has just come back from a field trip to New Guinea with reports of a tribe so primitive that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-letterman/an-anthropologist-at-tulane-has-just-come-back-from-a-field-trip-to/) [David Letterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-letterman/) > [Shamanism is not some obscure concern of cultural anthropologists. Shamanism is how religion was practiced for its first million years. Up until about 12,000…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/shamanism-is-not-some-obscure-concern-of-cultural-anthropologists/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [What did the last Easter Islander say as he chopped down the last tree? The Easter Islanders didnt have anthropologists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/what-did-the-last-easter-islander-say-as-he-chopped-down-the-last/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [The world of rumor and gossip is like a privileged world with which a social scientist or an anthropologist can take the temperature of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-c-scott/the-world-of-rumor-and-gossip-is-like-a-privileged-world-with-which-a/) [James C. Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-c-scott/) > [ Anthropology has always struggled with an intense, fascinated repulsion towards its subject… \[The anthropologist\] submits himself to the exotic to confirm his own inner… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/anthropology-has-always-struggled-with-an-intense-fascinated/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [As a social anthropologist, I naturally accept and even stress the fact that there are major differences, both mental and psychological, which separate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-leakey/as-a-social-anthropologist-i-naturally-accept-and-even-stress-the/) [Louis Leakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-leakey/) ## More by Rutger Bregman > [“If all the developed countries would let in just 3% more immigrants, the world’s poor would have $305 billion more to spend, say scientists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-bregman/if-all-the-developed-countries-would-let-in-just-3-more-immigrants/) [Rutger Bregman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutger-bregman/) > [“When Lehman Brothers collapsed on September 15, 2008, and inaugurated the biggest crisis since the 1930s, there were no real alternatives to hand. No…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-bregman/when-lehman-brothers-collapsed-on-september-15-2008-and-inaugurated/) [Rutger Bregman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutger-bregman/) > [I think one of the most important facts of basic income would be that it's not only a redistribution of income, but also of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-bregman/i-think-one-of-the-most-important-facts-of-basic-income-would-be-that/) [Rutger Bregman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutger-bregman/) > [The great thing about money is that people can use it to buy things they need instead of things self-appointed experts think they need.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-bregman/the-great-thing-about-money-is-that-people-can-use-it-to-buy-things/) [Rutger Bregman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutger-bregman/) > [“The idea that the GDP still serves as an accurate gauge of social welfare is one of the most widespread myths of our times.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-bregman/the-idea-that-the-gdp-still-serves-as-an-accurate-gauge-of-social/) [Rutger Bregman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutger-bregman/) > [Most of Mark Zuckerberg's income is just rent collected off the millions of picture and video posts that we give away daily for free.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-bregman/most-of-mark-zuckerberg-s-income-is-just-rent-collected-off-the/) [Rutger Bregman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutger-bregman/) > [“To calculate the GDP, numerous data points have to be linked together and hundreds of wholly subjective choices made regarding what to count and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-bregman/to-calculate-the-gdp-numerous-data-points-have-to-be-linked-together/) [Rutger Bregman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutger-bregman/) > [“Countless studies have shown that people who work less are more satisfied with their lives.37 In a recent poll conducted among working women, German…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-bregman/countless-studies-have-shown-that-people-who-work-less-are-more/) [Rutger Bregman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutger-bregman/) > [“Precisely when we should be shouldering the historic task of investing this rich, safe, and healthy existence with meaning, we’ve buried utopia instead. There’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-bregman/precisely-when-we-should-be-shouldering-the-historic-task-of/) [Rutger Bregman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutger-bregman/) > [Believing in the good of humanity is a revolutionary act - it means that we don't need all those managers and CEO's, kings and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-bregman/believing-in-the-good-of-humanity-is-a-revolutionary-act-it-means/) [Rutger Bregman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutger-bregman/) > [Poor people aren't making dumb decisions because they are dumb, but because they're living in a context in which anyone would make dumb decisions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-bregman/poor-people-aren-t-making-dumb-decisions-because-they-are-dumb-but/) [Rutger Bregman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutger-bregman/) > [“The bottom line is that wealth can be concentrated somewhere, but that doesn’t also mean that’s where it’s being created. This is just as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-bregman/the-bottom-line-is-that-wealth-can-be-concentrated-somewhere-but-that/) [Rutger Bregman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutger-bregman/) > [“Recently, the International Monetary Fund published a report which revealed that too much inequality even inhibits economic growth.22 Perhaps the most fascinating finding, however,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-bregman/recently-the-international-monetary-fund-published-a-report-which/) [Rutger Bregman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutger-bregman/) > [“Not coincidentally, the countries with the shortest workweeks also have the largest number of volunteers and the most social capital.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-bregman/not-coincidentally-the-countries-with-the-shortest-workweeks-also/) [Rutger Bregman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutger-bregman/) > [It matters so much that from a very early age we encounter different kinds of different people, because that's what real life should be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-bregman/it-matters-so-much-that-from-a-very-early-age-we-encounter-different/) [Rutger Bregman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutger-bregman/) [Explore all 164 Rutger Bregman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutger-bregman/) ## More Anthropologists quotes > [As a social anthropologist, I naturally accept and even stress the fact that there are major differences, both mental and psychological, which separate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-leakey/as-a-social-anthropologist-i-naturally-accept-and-even-stress-the/) [Louis Leakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-leakey/) > [ Anthropology has always struggled with an intense, fascinated repulsion towards its subject… \[The anthropologist\] submits himself to the exotic to confirm his own inner… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/anthropology-has-always-struggled-with-an-intense-fascinated/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [The world of rumor and gossip is like a privileged world with which a social scientist or an anthropologist can take the temperature of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-c-scott/the-world-of-rumor-and-gossip-is-like-a-privileged-world-with-which-a/) [James C. Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-c-scott/) > [What did the last Easter Islander say as he chopped down the last tree? The Easter Islanders didnt have anthropologists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/what-did-the-last-easter-islander-say-as-he-chopped-down-the-last/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [Shamanism is not some obscure concern of cultural anthropologists. Shamanism is how religion was practiced for its first million years. Up until about 12,000…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/shamanism-is-not-some-obscure-concern-of-cultural-anthropologists/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [An anthropologist at Tulane has just come back from a field trip to New Guinea with reports of a tribe so primitive that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-letterman/an-anthropologist-at-tulane-has-just-come-back-from-a-field-trip-to/) [David Letterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-letterman/) > [Modernity sees humanity as having ascended from what is inferior to it - life begins in slime and ends in intelligence - whereas traditional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/modernity-sees-humanity-as-having-ascended-from-what-is-inferior-to/) [Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) > [“Increasingly anthropologists are being asked "what can you do for us?" by the people whose societies they are doing research on. It is sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-seeger/increasingly-anthropologists-are-being-asked-what-can-you-do-for-us/) [Anthony Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-seeger/) > [Anthropologists are a connecting link between poets and scientists; though their field-work among primitive peoples has often made them forget the language of science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/anthropologists-are-a-connecting-link-between-poets-and-scientists/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [What if the book (of Genesis) is describing a dawning awareness of the world? The anthropologist Edmund Leach has argued that the 'bit' or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-hampden-turner/what-if-the-book-of-genesis-is-describing-a-dawning-awareness-of-the/) [Charles Hampden-Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-hampden-turner/) > [People like ourselves may see nothing wondrous in writing, but our anthropologists know how strange and magical it appears to a purely oral people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/people-like-ourselves-may-see-nothing-wondrous-in-writing-but-our/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [Anthropologists have found evidence of romantic love in 170 societies. They've never found a society that did not have it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-fisher/anthropologists-have-found-evidence-of-romantic-love-in-170-societies/) [Helen Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-fisher/) > [As a journalist, or an anthropologist, the convention is that people are there for you to study, and they are your objects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annia-ciezadlo/as-a-journalist-or-an-anthropologist-the-convention-is-that-people/) [Annia Ciezadlo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annia-ciezadlo/) > [Anthropologists have often described what happens to a primitive society when its spiritual values are exposed to the impact of modern civilisation. Its people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/anthropologists-have-often-described-what-happens-to-a-primitive/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [We chose to do this work mathematically, which has the advantage of precision but is not always appreciated by readers. It is perhaps for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luigi-luca-cavalli-sforza/we-chose-to-do-this-work-mathematically-which-has-the-advantage-of/) [Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luigi-luca-cavalli-sforza/) [Browse all 91 Anthropologists quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anthropologists/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In the past 20 years scientists from very diverse disciplines - anthropologists, archaeologists, sociologists, psychologists - have all moved to a much more hopeful, optimistic view of human nature.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rutger Bregman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-bregman/in-the-past-20-years-scientists-from-very-diverse-disciplines/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Anthropologists" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-bregman/in-the-past-20-years-scientists-from-very-diverse-disciplines/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/743/rutger-bregman-2463_discipline_in-the-past-20-years-scientists-from-ver_2135982.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/743/rutger-bregman-2463_discipline_in-the-past-20-years-scientists-from-ver_2135982.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/743/rutger-bregman-2463_discipline_in-the-past-20-years-scientists-from-ver_2135982.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In the past 20 years scientists from very diverse disciplines - anthropologists, archaeologists…” — Rutger Bregman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Rutger Bregman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutger-bregman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In the past 20 years scientists...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-bregman/in-the-past-20-years-scientists-from-very-diverse-disciplines/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-bregman/in-the-past-20-years-scientists-from-very-diverse-disciplines/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```