Will have to give this book a read. I think I heard him as a guest on the Joe Rogan podcast a little while back and loved some of the insights he had.
This is a really interesting topic, how our biases affect our decisions and our outlooks. Whether these are symptoms of the success living in the first world or whether they are a part of the easy access to MSM and the constant bombardment of negative news, its hard to tell. I would love to see studies of people in less developed nations to see their outlooks on the future and the past to be able to compare.
Overall I think we are headed in a good direction, like you pointed out, mortality rates are at an all-time low, there is more food available for more people than ever before in history and we can communicate with people anywhere around the world with the click of the button. However, personal debt is at an all time high, working hours are also constantly going up and pollution is a huhge global problem. So there are big things that loom in the distance to counteract all these advancements to society.