Live Online Book Forum 

# *Agency:*

### *The Psychological History of Human Progress* 

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Date and Time 

September 21, 2026 1 - 2 PM EDT 

Location 

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##### 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

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](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) 

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.

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