⌛ Archive of Human Genius

Malaria has been one of the biggest scourges on humanity for millennia and mostly kills babies and infants. However, through the widespread dissemination of a vaccine developed in the 2020s and other mechanisms, global efforts to eradicate perhaps the deadliest disease known to humanity finally find resounding success. In the 20th century alone, malaria claimed between 150 million and 300 million lives, accounting for 2-5% of all deaths globally. By the halfway point of the 21st century, these deaths had been effectively eliminated.

Though food waste rose for decades as more people around the world grew more affluent (and thus more willing and able to waste), total global food waste finally begins to decline due to new policies and increased consumer awareness.

Through the development of effective, safe vaccines and treatment plans and reliable ways to send care to poor and rural populations, the world’s nations effectively eliminate HIV as a cause of death worldwide. As of 2023, over 42 million people had died of HIV-related causes since the beginning of the epidemic. By the 2050s, such deaths become mostly a thing of the past.

In a stunning transformation, the global community completes the transition to 100% renewable energy, a monumental feat accomplished in just a matter of decades. By powering our lives and economies with clean sources like solar and wind, we not only save billions of human and non-human lives but also secure a livable, sustainable planet for generations to come. This incredible journey demonstrates that global cooperation and bold innovation can overcome our greatest challenges.

The adoption of Vision Zero principles represents a monumental global achievement in public safety. This human-centered approach to road safety has led to a $50 reduction in traffic fatalities worldwide

After concerted efforts to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions and restore collapsed reefs, the world’s corals begin adding more volume than they lose every year for the first time in decades. This monumental victory is a direct result of collective human action and advanced scientific stewardship. By combining global net-zero commitments with large-scale restoration techniques like coral gardening, the international community reversed environmental catastrophe. The recovery, which protects coastal infrastructure and stabilizes food sources for a billion people, proves that ambitious climate goals are achievable when nations prioritize shared responsibility and technological innovation.

The world’s last countries have affirmed the right of all adults to love who they love and marry the partner of their choice, completing a global legal transition in 2065. This monumental achievement not only grants justice and liberty for hundreds of millions of people but also profoundly reduces the stigma against LGBTQ+ citizens around the world. By guaranteeing equality, this universal legal standard fosters significantly improved mental health outcomes, while actively reducing bullying and violence across all societies.

As of 2024, over 11 million people globally lived in prisons, often in miserable conditions, frequently exposed to violence and sexual abuse, and without meaningful attempts to rehabilitate and reintegrate them into society. However, after decades of concerted effort to address the circumstances that push people into crime and to radically transform the prison toward a truly rehabilitative model, the global prison population begins dropping precipitously, finally reaching the milestone of less than one million prisoners globally for the first time in centuries.

Through aggressive conservation and sustainable development efforts, humanity succeeds in significantly slowing biodiversity loss and perhaps even ending Earth’s “sixth mass extinction” event. Combined with extensive climate mitigation and adaptation, these conservation efforts help restore the world’s ecosystems to their former vibrancy and health, supporting both the innate value of natural life and the human economies that rely on that life.