Multiplying the total number of people by the average living standard, it is clear that the total wealth of the world has truly exploded. Not only do modern individuals typically live incomparable more pleasant lives than in the past, but far more individuals are doing so. People in the U.S. have a very high living standard even by the standards of rich countries. The living standard of the average U.S. citizen living below the poverty line looks roughly comparable to the average living standard in Japan, Britain, France, or even Germany in terms of square feet of living space per capita, ownership of color TVs, meat consumption, and car ownership. Now let's focus on the last 10,000 years.
New ideas increase the average amount of wealth one person can produce.
By figuring out this new productive technique, human beings increase their average productivity, which means extra food, less effort needed for survival, and greater probability of survival. This means a larger population with a larger fraction of effort devoted to innovation, leading to more discoveries, such as pottery, the plow, irrigation, cities, metal-working, writing, and mathematics. You don't figure out much when you do. Counter-productive policies often institutionalized by governments, stifling progress or even reversing it. From 10,000 BC to 1600 AD, new important inventions were often spaced centuries apart.