Yes, the pace of fundamental inventions has slowed down, but that has nothing to do with progress. I think the author confuses two ideas: progress and technolo

Yes, the pace of fundamental inventions has slowed down, but that has nothing to do with progress. I think the author confuses two ideas: progress and technological inventions. Progress is not defined by the appearance of new "fundamental" inventions. A lot of it comes from how we use technology. Sure the Internet was just a bigger network, but by being a world-wide network instead of a LAN, it has enabled many things previously not possible. The author's take on technological inventions is very narrow. He's only looking for new "fundamental" inventions. And new inventions have nothing to do with progress. You know what I call progress? "Economic growth over the last 200 years completely transformed our world, and poverty fell continuously over the last two centuries." -- http://ourworldindata.org/data/growth-and-distribution-of-prosperity/world-poverty/ http://ourworldindata.org/data/growth-and-distribution-of-pr... That's the only real, measurable progress. Everything else he lists as "fundamental" inventions are simply a means to an end. They are not progress itself. Finding the cure for smallpox isn't progress. Progress is curing smallpox. Nuclear fusion isn't progress. Progress is getting it developed enough for it to become a real energy source and getting people to use it. Even the author acknowledges this, but he's way too confused on inventions vs. progress. Finally, he adds a section on social progress. It's hard to argue that at all. Yes, we're more open to differences ... in the West. But obviously, the author has completely forgotten about such nation-states as Russia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Afghanistan, China ... yeah, I really don't need to keep going. Global social progress is indeed a myth, but I do think certain parts of the world are making some progress. Finally, he also ends up equating decline of 'social progress' with lack of progress which is ridiculous because social progress is only local and just because something reverts back to the way it used to be doesn't mean progress wasn't made for a time (although this is a rather popular, yet extremely wrong idea in the US).