> Has anyone here an idea where this notion of a "steady march of progress in human history" is coming from? IMHO, it's the base assumption of modern society (

> Has anyone here an idea where this notion of a "steady march of progress in human history" is coming from? IMHO, it's the base assumption of modern society (e.g. "new" implies "improved"; instead of recommitting to old ideas, we say we need new ones). It's not true, but it kinda looks true if you only consider recent history with a little cherry-picking.