Could you put some sort of paramaters around that question? Social progress? Technological progress? Financial cost? Societal cost? I need more information before I can dazzle you with my thoughts.
I think social progress is a hard thing to nail down. Considering the diverse and divergent number of views in the world, what some see as progress, other see as regression.
The very act of social progress is going to create a backlash of the opposing view and its proponents' actions as a cost. See gay marriage, abortion, feminism, civil rights and any other things that have been labeled as progress.
Technological progress would have to be looked at on a case by case basis. The progress of nuclear energy comes at the cost of extremely dangerous and long-lasting pollution among other things. The progress of hybrid cars comes at the cost of building battery cells. The progress of cloning comes at the cost of toeing ethical boundaries.
My soapbox around 'progress' usually goes something like this: There's a problem with how the word is thrown around. Not all 'change' is progress. If you are doing a math problem, make a mistake, but continue all through the next steps. You've filled up a lot of paper, but you didn't make progress. You need to go back, fix the mistake, then continue on--that's progress.
[see 'Sprawlzilla vs. Mainstreet' for more ranting (but with a sweet tune)]
blake brings up something i was thinking about today. what is progress? and who gets to define it.
societal progress should mean that society is changing for a better thing. so, the cost would be giving up old things, old ways. however, you're never going to have unanimous consent/agreement. so, together we all decide what to keep/leave out/coexist with.
another point about what blake said is important. you have to go back, fix the mistake and keep going. that in itself is a form of progress, although it may seem like two steps back. mistakes and misdirections can be seen as a part of progress.
as far as the cost of progress, my gut response is that it is a loss of simplicity. That may not hold up to examination, but it is the first thing that came to mind
justin, i like that loss of simplicity idea. you're probably right that it will fall apart under great scrutiny.
because i don't necessarily think progress always brings complexity to life. in fact, i think it could bring simplicity in some ways. it seems like it's a paradox. we get simplicity of use from very complex things.
8 comments:
Could you put some sort of paramaters around that question? Social progress? Technological progress? Financial cost? Societal cost? I need more information before I can dazzle you with my thoughts.
Yeah, I agree, the question is too general.
sure,
what is the cost of social progress?
what is the cost of technological progress?
any others you'd like to share thoughts on are welcome as well.
I think social progress is a hard thing to nail down. Considering the diverse and divergent number of views in the world, what some see as progress, other see as regression.
The very act of social progress is going to create a backlash of the opposing view and its proponents' actions as a cost. See gay marriage, abortion, feminism, civil rights and any other things that have been labeled as progress.
Technological progress would have to be looked at on a case by case basis. The progress of nuclear energy comes at the cost of extremely dangerous and long-lasting pollution among other things. The progress of hybrid cars comes at the cost of building battery cells. The progress of cloning comes at the cost of toeing ethical boundaries.
My soapbox around 'progress' usually goes something like this:
There's a problem with how the word is thrown around.
Not all 'change' is progress.
If you are doing a math problem, make a mistake, but continue all through the next steps. You've filled up a lot of paper, but you didn't make progress. You need to go back, fix the mistake, then continue on--that's progress.
[see 'Sprawlzilla vs. Mainstreet' for more ranting (but with a sweet tune)]
blake brings up something i was thinking about today. what is progress? and who gets to define it.
societal progress should mean that society is changing for a better thing. so, the cost would be giving up old things, old ways. however, you're never going to have unanimous consent/agreement. so, together we all decide what to keep/leave out/coexist with.
and i really like the math example blake.
another point about what blake said is important. you have to go back, fix the mistake and keep going. that in itself is a form of progress, although it may seem like two steps back. mistakes and misdirections can be seen as a part of progress.
as far as the cost of progress, my gut response is that it is a loss of simplicity. That may not hold up to examination, but it is the first thing that came to mind
justin,
i like that loss of simplicity idea. you're probably right that it will fall apart under great scrutiny.
because i don't necessarily think progress always brings complexity to life. in fact, i think it could bring simplicity in some ways. it seems like it's a paradox. we get simplicity of use from very complex things.
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