It's TED Talks Daily. I'm Elise Hugh. Somehow, the author and futurist Juan Enriquez was able to sum up the history of human civilization into today's talk from TED 2020.

Okay, okay, he had to leave a lot out, but the main thrust will leave you rethinking our notions of right and wrong,

and even more importantly, how to arrive at common ground.

In an era of extreme polarization, it's really dangerous to talk about right and wrong.

You can be targeted, judged for something you said 10 years ago, 10 months ago,

10 hours ago, 10 seconds ago. And that means that those who think you're wrong may burn you at the

stake or those who are on your side that think you're not sufficiently orthodox may try and

cancel you. As you're thinking about right and wrong, I want you to consider three ideas.

What if right and wrong is something that changes over time?

What if right and wrong is something that can change because of technology?

What if technology is moving exponentially?

So as you're thinking about this concept, remember, human

sacrifice used to be normal and natural. It was a way of appeasing the gods. Otherwise, the rain

wouldn't come. The sun wouldn't shut. Public executions. They were common, normal,

legal. You used to take your kids to watch beheadings in the streets of Paris.

One of the greatest rungs, slavery, indentured servitude.

That was something that was practiced for millennia.

It was practiced across the Incas, the Mayas, the Chinese, the Indians, in North and South America. And as you're thinking about this,

one question is, why did something so wrong last for so long? And a second question is,

why did it go away? And why did it go away in a few short decades in legal terms? Certainly there

was a work by extraordinary abolitionists

who risked their lives, but there may be something else happening alongside these brave abolitionists.

...