10/25/2020
A few years ago during a political discussion that culminated in how X was necessary because progress demands it, someone (Luisa) questioned the necessity of progress. It really threw me off. I had never considered the value of progress as being up for debate or doubt. Recently, however, more and more political rhetoric reminds me of this question of whether progress is necessary. I'm regularly confronted with arguments about how life was better for people, or people were happier, in more primitive times during hunter-gather times or in America pre-anglo settlement.
I believe that all of nature dictates the necessity of progress from the fundamental directionality of time (forward) to the increasingly capable cognition we humans are fortunate enough to steward.
Entropy Vs Life
Energy enables work to create change.
What is progress?
Change that betters our station? But what is better?
Progress will always be relative, but there are certain perspectives which have more weight by the degree of their objectivity.
I believe that we should choose our forward path based on what is best for our species. But how do we define what is best for our species? Evolution would seem to suggest that life naturally trends toward increasing its power over itself and its environment. This would indicate a push to innovate technologies and our ability to harness natural resources.
How Consciousness Has Progressed to Date
We must also factor what's important to us, but should consider as long a perspective as possible when defining what is important.
If quality of life declines, especially without external circumstances, great tumult follows. We simply can't go backward.
In order to consider what is important to us, we must first outline what is important for us. We need to be happy and healthy in order to be functionally operational. We need to utilize our faculties (our bodies, our intelligence, and our creativity) and we need to balance our exertion with an intake of suitable foods.
We should want to increase efficiency of resource utilization including human labor and experience. We should seek this for many reasons. We live finite lives.
Some who seek social and political progress question the need for technological and economic progress.