I haven't wondered about that in a long time, because I'm of the belief that, as a race, no, we have not improved. I think the only thing that separates us from our ancestors (whether 50 years, 100 years or 1,000 years ago) is technology. I think our basic instincts and natures have remained the same...our "advancements" have all been about things we have done (created new machines, new communication systems, new modes of transportation, new medicines, new things to help make our lives easier)...we've "discovered" things we didn't know before and there may be more people inclined not to practice or believe certain things, but as a race, we are still behaving the same ways our forebearers did. We still wage war (from the small to the grand scale) over land and over ethnic and religious intolerance, we still have the rich being greedy and extravagant to the detriment of others, we still have poverty and apathy and we still have a difficult time truly fathoming ourselves in someone else's shoes. We've only gotten more dangerous because our technology has made it easier. If anything, we've developed a greater sense of entitlement and a lesser sense of, well, sense!