January 1928: Dirac equation unifies quantum mechanics and special relativity

If our society were sane, rational, advanced, the headlines would be all about scientific and technological progress. The fusion power breakthrough of 2022 by Lawrence Livermore National Lab would still dominate the news. Large corporations would compete to create the first Star Trek replicator (at least for organic matter, food, etc) by advancements in nanofabrication. Politicians would debate R&D topics and strategy, figuring out which path leads to greater broad-sector economic progress.

One can dream. :) Instead, we have a society almost entirely dependent on many kinds of technology, and yet very few understand any of it, nor care to. Wonder how long this trend can persist until some sort of phase transition appears on the horizon.

Some many years ago some people collected some negative traits to describe the foibles of people. Unfortunately, these negatives seem to dominate much of the news:

Pride, Greed, Lust, Anger, Gluttony, Envy, Sloth.

If we could somehow dim the influence of these human traits, we might get closer to the world you described