Please read the source before commenting. I did and I’m surprised by what’s been said so far here. The context for the article is an alien from some other planet visiting Earth and taking inventory of human society (really the whole planet) every 50 years. If you don’t want to read the whole thing, I think the summary at the end does a good job of encompassing the perspective:

“Visiting the planet every half-century has made her (the alien), unlike her Earth friends, an optimist. Humankind never goes the easy way around, and given the stakes, they could easily mess up—by starting World War III or being unprepared for a more lethal pandemic than COVID-19, unrestrained artificial intelligence, or the deadly consequences of the climate crisis. She reminds herself, and wishes the citizens of the planet could remember, that few living in 1974, 1924, or 1874 could have imagined the extraordinary progress earthlings have made since. Which, perhaps against her better judgment, gives her hope that she will get to visit in 2074 and be impressed once again.”