The idea of progress : has progress always been a positive action for society throughout history? Is there different kind of progress?

The notion I’m going to deal with is the idea of progress.

In relation to the notion, the subject of my presentation will be the social and technological aspect of progress.

        The idea of progress can be defined as an improvement, a development or a change. It can be a technical, scientific or social advance which contributes to making the world a better place. There is no denying that nowadays progress is being made everywhere. However, along history, great progress encountered most of the time significant opposition because some people weren’t comfortable with the great changes they involved. Progress was sometimes a major problem for the society and for the environment. Whilst, many people are for the idea of progress others seems to not appreciate it completely. Although, this idea of progress, rising more than ever, seems beneficial for our world.

        We may ask ourselves has progress always been a positive action for society throughout history? Is there different kind of progress?

        My presentation will fall in three parts: first of all, I will concentrate on the social progress, then I will analyze the technological progress, before finally focusing on the potential problems that it causes.

First of all, Social progress was often started by a desire for equality and improvement of the living conditions expressed by some parts of the population. In some cases, they had to go through severe opposition and to fight for their rights. It was exactly what Sarah Gavron wanted to show in her film Suffragette in 2015. Indeed, back in 1903, when women were still considered in Britain as second-class citizen, the «Suffragettes», an organization in favor of the women’s right to vote was created. They campaigned through a lot of protests, sometimes violently, and went through a strong repression that put lots of them in prison. In 1918, after the First World War, women above 30 finally got the right to vote for the first time. Therefore, it represents the social aspect of progress.

        Furthermore, the idea of progress also affects technology and discoveries. Indeed, the world hasn’t always been how we know it nowadays. In fact, some parts of the globe weren’t even discovered back in the XIXth century. For example, David Livingstone, who is the first white man to cross the African continent, discovered many unknown species and landscapes. He also had a very specific plan: to develop Africa. His ideas were always towards progress. However, I’ve also seen a technological progress since the early 80s. Indeed, many geniuses have help to develop new technologies. One of the most famous is: Steve Jobs, who created Apple alongside the Steve Wozniak. Thanks to these discoveries and inventions, the world has seen a significant progress since the XIXth century.

        Finally, we will see the side effect of progress and how it can cause some problems. Although, we often compare progress as a positive action sometimes it makes things worse than before. For example, with the discovery of Australia. Indeed, the British have colonized Australia after Captain Cook landed there. However, this progress resulted in a massive massacre of indigenous people already living in Australia, followed by slavery. Besides, in the film « Welcome to Gattaca », science and technology have led to a world without emotions, without values and whiteout freedom. So an ethical problem arises and a larger question arises: Where are the limits of progress? 

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