That's actually probably not true. I'm not a historian, but one interesting thing I've learned from reading lots of history is the different attitudes different societies had about the past/future.

As far as I know, it's only really since the enlightenment/industrial revolution, that people feel like the future is going to be better. The idea that the past was the golden age, where Humans were much more advanced, knew more, Had better technology, etc, seems to be the common position in history.

Im not sure about the feeling that society was"hungry" ala the article, but I suspect that feeling is connected.

And it was probably true for most of them. The stakes for humanity keep rising, so "now" is usually the most important time in history.