Saturday, July 31, 2010
Is Progress Necessary in Current Times?
Have you ever noticed that after every decade or change of the status quo we develop a tendency to look back on the the past with distaste? We find ourselves constantly making the current political state, philosophies, and level of intellectual genius superior to those before it. I have to ask though: Who are we to judge if the state of the nation, or of the world even, has progressed to a point where the past is now only applicable to the past? I strongly believe that along the way, we as a human race have made a fatal mistake. In Brave New World Mustapha Mond states that "There was a choice between World Control and destruction. Between stability and... (p. 48)," referencing that there was a critical decision that would either lead to the continuation of life or the absolute end of all of humanity. This seems absolutely absurd in text, but it is a habit that we tend to do in reality, not only in novels. For example, as I took AP World History last year, I found that we look at the Romans and other such successful empires of the past and we say that they were "destined to fail" or that "progress was inevitable." I came to the conclusion, however, that I believe that this progress we are determined to keep on pursuing will only eventually destroy us. Not as moral beings, not as religious beings, but as physical human beings, as creatures that will no longer roam this Earth. Did the Romans really need progress? Because as I studied, they were very contempt in the life they were living. I think, then, that somewhere along the way of the time span of human cultural and technological advancement that we became obsessed with the great chase of progress, not for political reasons as in Brave New World, but as a selfish marker so we may feel superior to a time before ours. What do you think? Is progress now necessary for the community and politics, or have we passed this point and have made it purely for selfish pleasure?
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I see your point, Warren, it seems to be a matter of “don’t fix what isn’t broken” but it also seems that it is in our nature to feel the need to evolve. As humans we are obsessed with building a perfect society, but how will we know when we have that perfect society? In order to build a society where everyone is perfectly happy (without the use of drugs or soma) it is necessary to look at the past, not with distaste, however. We need to look at the past and learn the things that seem to be working and to learn from the mistakes, such as the Romans. Perfection is impossible, there will always be failures, but we can learn from these failures and progress into something better. It really depends on what we are progressing on that is a matter of necessity or selfishness. Do we really need a new Ipod coming out every week? Or do we need to see 3D in our phones? I see progress like this everywhere I turn, but I don’t see it as absolutely necessary. Nice? Yes, but necessary? Maybe not so much. Now, obviously, our world is not perfect, what with the wars, poverty, disease, natural disasters, etc. Perhaps we just need to get our priorities straight. It would be nice to improve and make the world a better place, but the world will never be perfect, no matter how hard we try, in my opinion, anyway.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Of course, we need to progress. It is in our nature as humans to want to move forward, to want to have better, and to get keep making new. Even if we tried, we could not just stop progress. There will always be ambitious individuals attempting at new challenges. There is nothing wrong with that.
ReplyDeleteWith this being said, we should get our priorities straight, and make progress where it is needed. We could do much more and spend much more energy into helping the underdeveloped countries, or any cause.
At the same time, I feel like saying that was pointless because we all know this. It is obvious to us all, but bringing Postman into the situation, we are too involved in the media. The way the world works at the time is that we will continue to get better technology and that might be it. That might be the end of it because that is all we care about.
Warren talks about the possibility of progress becoming our downfall. This may happen, but we cannot stop all progress because we are living comfortably. If progress will be our downfall then it is inevitable.
Warren I don't think progress is matter of necessity, or lack of as the case may be, but we make progress out of natural curiosity. We try to make things better or easier or both because we strive for a perfect world. I think people can never be happy in the world they are in because there is always the possibility that it could be better or it could be different. I think the factor of the unknown is what drives us to progress.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Carina. Curiosity is hard-wired into the human being. We need to poke and prod, and see what we can do. I read how the guys who were working on the hydrogren bomb saw it just as really cool problem -- an interesting equation to solve. Oops. My bad. Enormous destructive capacity in the hands of a madman. Shoot. We weren't thinking about that at the time. Nuclear weapons? Unthinkable destructive capacity, and its fancy byproduct, plutonium?
ReplyDeleteI think the adage "curiosity killed the cat," would be better applied to us.
(When I start to get all morose like this, I try to think of engineering marvels, beautiful architecture, music, dance, art, literature...human beings also have the capacity for surprise, joy and creativity. And love. Let's not forget about love.) It's a balancing act, my students. We dance on the head of a pin.
It seems to a point that all of you agree that progress is inevitable, though Mraz and Gonzalez do so without the subtlety that Fletcher and Taylor have presented. The first thought that comes to mind is that we use progress as an excuse to say that we can make our world better, and as valid as your arguments are, I will remain behind this statement.
ReplyDeleteTaylor, your point in which you state "the factor of the unknown is what drives us to progress," is one that has caused me to think deeply. The only conclusion I can make is yes, you are right, but would that not sacrifice religion and all of the status quo in the process? 8000 years of history, and it seems that the only motive for progress is that we want it, not need it. We care more about the progress of the world then we do helping it.
Fletcher, "curiosity killed the lion." Look, your cliche works here, how rare and marvelous.
The progress of beauty, of dance, art, and literature, makes me wonder. Can you progress such things? Not love, no, not love of course. So this is not progress, it is universal, and will stay so. May this back my argument, that all progress will bring is destruction.