To: Rod, Erin, Rick and Wim,
Despite Rod's recent pessimism, I would like to suggest that we can gain a
lot on the PROGRESS issue by looking at those narraow areas that we all agree
have progressed over a long and relatively consistent basis. In many cases,
I think we will find that it isn't that we were unable to make progress, it
is that progress has not been widespread enough or that progress has led to
new problems along another dimension. Below are some comments that I believe
are accurate regarding PROGRESS:
1) Science has consistently progressed in a well defined area of knowledge.
2) Technology (applied science) has progressed dramatically in the past 300
years
3) The field of Medicine has progressed steadily for 200 years or so
4) Worldwide health, wealth, lifespan, nutrition and education have
progressed for about 100 years (the advance has been fastest in poorest
countries)
5) We have steadily progressed in our ability to sustain larger and larger
numbers of people off a given area of land (This one has been progressing for
10,000 years)
Now, before I get a tirade of "yea buts" on how more people itself ISN"T
necessarily progress, or how technology can be applied in ways that make life
worse, or how disparate trends have increased wealth BUT DECREASED equality
or what have you, let me cut these off by restating my purpose. I am trying
to identify those elements or sub-elements of society/intellect that have
steadily progressed. The above statements are easily supported if kept to
what is written and if we avoid related fields that aren't progressive.
My point is that progress is possible, and the best way to learn about
progress is to study what progressive dimensions have and compare and
contrast it to what non-progressive dimensions don't have. This thread -- as
well as the December thread on the path to higher quality -- is related to
learning about progress. And though the proof may be a hundred years in the
future, it doesn't mean that we can't get better and better at choosing paths
that are more likely to lead to progress and to avoid those paths virtually
gauranteed to lead to failure.
I agree with the "yea buts" interfering with progress. My suggestion is that
we need to try to apply the successes of progress to the "yea but" categories
as well (polution, overpopulation, global warming, happiness, inequality,
war, etc)
Risky
PS -- Erin, I assure you I was not passing judgement on Bill Mahr. I was
conveying that he had been judged (and yes, your transcript does exhonerate
him).
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