World is in better place than when Eden Project created 25 years ago, founder says

"Smit describedextreme political views as the roar of people fearful that they cannot control the future but he said they would fade when people realised that good things were around the corner. When people see that some of that future is going to be amazing, they'll cease to want to control it in quite the same way, he said. It's like people going out for a stag night and feeling stupid the following day, he said."

"Humans are very weird in the way they think the past was always some better place. In fact, today is pretty good and tomorrow is going to be even better. People are basically good. Fundamentally, the instincts of humans are those of tribal primates. We like to look after each other. We like to be gentle. We really adore laughing. And we only tend to be at our roughest when resources get less."

The world is in a better place than 25 years ago, with people increasingly attuned to the natural world and more optimistic about the future. Extreme political views are the roar of fearful people who feel they cannot control the future, and such views will fade as people realise promising developments are imminent. Human instincts are fundamentally tribal and caring, with rough behaviour arising mainly when resources shrink. The Eden Project opened in 2001 to explore humanity's place in nature and to demonstrate the essential role of plants through its biomes and public narrative. The project functions as a monument to the importance of plants and aims to create a narrative arc that helps people see the natural world as vital to life on earth.

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