# Multimedia 

Multimedia 

---

- [Podcasts](/podcasts)
- [Cato Video](/multimedia/cato-video)
- [Video Series](/search/category/video-series)
- [Events](/multimedia/events)

Download:

[ 

Video 

](https://fastly-unsigned-us-east-1-prod.brightcovecdn.com/media/v1/pmp4/static/clear/6039378657001/98aa6c1e-417d-4876-a0f5-41fcba34b8d7/e5ee16a4-747b-4dce-9e2f-a47a26e4d115/main.mp4) 

Events • October 2, 2026 

# Agency: The Psychological History of Human Progress 

What drives human progress? Ecologists point to geography and climate. Sociologists invoke wars and class. Economists follow the money. But none of these accounts explains why innovation and human thriving occurs in some eras and stalls in others—often under identical material conditions. The missing variable, as renowned psychologist Martin Seligman argues in *Agency*, is psychological. Join us for a virtual book forum featuring Cato psychologist Adam Omary and historian of progress Johan Norberg.

![Book Cover, Omary, 09.21](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/promo_block_book_cover_1x/public/2026-09/Book%20Cover%2C%20Omary%2C%2009.21.jpg?itok=ovKEvfdp) 

### *[Agency: The Psychological History of Human Progress](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1982190647?tag=catoinstitute-20)*

What actually drives human progress? Ecologists point to geography and climate. Sociologists invoke wars and class. Economists follow the money. But none of these accounts explains why innovation and human thriving occurs in some eras and stalls in others—often under identical material conditions. The missing variable, Seligman argues, is the psychological state known as: agency.

[Purchase Book](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1982190647?tag=catoinstitute-20) 

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

##### Featuring 

![Martin Seligman_cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2026-09/Martin%20Seligman_cropped.jpg?itok=t4d7n9WD) 

##### Martin Seligman 

Director, Positive Psychology Center, University of Pennsylvania

[![Johan Norberg cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2023-11/johan-norberg-Cropped.jpg?itok=H292pden)](/people/johan-norberg) 

##### [Johan Norberg](/people/johan-norberg)

Senior Fellow, Cato Institute

[ 

](https://twitter.com/johanknorberg) [ 

](mailto:johan@johannorberg.net) 

[![adam-o-cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2026-05/adam-o-cropped.jpg?itok=BXOv-92_)](/people/adam-omary) 

##### [Adam Omary](/people/adam-omary)

Research Fellow, Cato Institute

[ 

](https://x.com/AdamOmaryPhD)