Watch the trend lines, not the headlines. That’s what Slate and Vox have done, and they’re showing a world that’s in better shape than we might think based on the stuff your “serious” friends share on Facebook.

Slate offers charts and stats on homicide, sexual assault, democracy, genocide, war and even the Middle East.

Vox adds charts on poverty, hunger and health, and they cite this quote from analyst John Mueller:

Unlike breathing, eating, or sex, war is not something that is somehow required by the human condition or by the forces of history. Accordingly, war can shrivel up and disappear, and it seems to be in the process of doing so.

So if our willful ignorance wasn’t destroying the world through climate change, I’d feel pretty good right now!