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"Progress" is a fairly recent philosophical concept. Up to a few hundred years ago there was no significant observable technological change between your life, y
by peter303 6y ago
"Progress" is a fairly recent philosophical concept. Up to a few hundred years ago there was no significant observable technological change between your life, your grandfathers and grandchildren. Some societies have ideas of utopias at the beginning or end of history, then some sort of ramp up or down hence.
- wayanon 6y agoHow about in warfare - weren’t weapons ‘improving’ through the centuries?
- jacquesm 6y agoAbout as fast as materials science. That was the limiting factor.
- notsureaboutpg 6y agoYes but the weapons "improving" didn't translate directly into armies winning, and it still doesn't today. The US is right now retreating from Afghanistan, where it spent 20 years losing to a much smaller, much less-funded, much lower-tech militia (the Taliban). So again, the idea of "progress" as a totality is very new (and you could argue, still wrong, it isn't absolutely clear that we are progressing as a species or even as a society).