Dear Humans,

I remember watching figure skating during the Lillehammer Winter Olympics 28 years ago. You didn’t hear the word quadruple very often. You heard a lot of triple–triple toe loop, triple axel–but skaters revolving their bodies 1440 degrees in the air (while on ice skates) was pretty rare.

Yesterday, Nathan Chen won the gold medal by performing five quadruple jumps (some of them combined with triple jumps). He landed them all. Athletes get faster and stronger and better trained. That requires great sacrifices and we’re not always sure if it’s worth it, but greatness doesn’t come easy.

It’s tempting to look around the world and see things getting worse. Some of our oldest stories are about how we used to live in some mythical, vanished paradise. But it’s important to remember the ways the world is getting better as well. 

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt