For self development addicts.

Will progress get ahead of men?

June 29th, 2007, by Attila Borcsa in Conscious living, 8 Comments

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In actual times, in the modern world, development and evolution on a larger scale is called progress. Since Heraclitus stated that “everything flows” – “Panta Rhei”, we accept the universality of permanent change. Change seems real, stability an illusion. Due to this belief in change, progress got a central place in our world. Actually, progress puts pressure on us, progress seems to become the ultimate obsession of modern men. But where does it lead us? Do you see progress heading into a good direction? Is progress truly beneficial for us? Or do you see it more like marking time? Or maybe we are just going round and round?

We put our faith into progress these days. An ever ongoing process, a linear one that brings us progress – this is how we see our lives. This linearity is in contrast with our ancestors circular, ever returning view of life. The symbol of evolution is now the arrow. The arrow that points to a direction. It seems to me that this is one sided as it only points towards the future.

What about the past? Why should we turn away from the past and the accumulated experiences? Is it good for us to only get ahead? Do we have reasons to willfully avoid the past?

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Comments on "Will progress get ahead of men?":

  1. teodora says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 2:19 pm

    I dont think panta rei means progress. let me check the dictionary again:
    -a forward or onward movement (as to an objective or to a goal)
    -gradual betterment, development
    non of these apply to the “next” liter of water in a river. Not to mention that change is perpetual, so its unchanging. Or think of the first law of thermodynamics..

  2. Attila Borcsa (author) says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 2:34 pm

    teodora, sorry, but I am not really getting your point here.
    Also, I did not say that panta rhei means progress. Where do you see that? I said it means “everything flows”, everything is in a flux. I quoted this pointing to it as a milestone in philosophy, which got into common knowledge.
    Your quoted definition is good though. It is pointing out what I am saying here: linearity is at the roots of progress obsession.

  3. teodora says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 2:55 pm

    Maybe we just say the same.. I’m not obsessed with progress tho, and I don’t think everyone is. And I think progress, circulation and stability can coexist well.

  4. Attila Borcsa (author) says:
    June 29th, 2007 at 3:03 pm

    OK teodora, thanks for sharing your opinion. I hope you are right on this!

  5. Kalman Miklos says:
    July 1st, 2007 at 2:30 pm

    Attila,

    How about the philosophy of the ‘here and now’? The key to happiness is to live the present moment, isn’t it?

    About the ‘progress’ in the World… I consider it just a change – the ‘battle’ of the sexes, the ‘battle’ of generations, the ‘battle’ of races… The question is, where do you find your place in it?

    Another perspective: years ago, they produced a vast amount of fighter jets for ‘defence’… Now they produce enormous amounts of passenger jets – for people to visit each other. Do you call it a ‘progress’? It depends on your point of view.

    Cheers!

  6. Razvy says:
    July 2nd, 2007 at 11:13 pm

    I see no progres, we are largely still in the stone age: we kill each other, people are starving to death while others throw away food. having more toys to play with and more comfort is no progress. how about more kindness and attention to each other….

  7. Paul Anthony Madacsi says:
    July 17th, 2007 at 1:02 pm

    On this topic I am somewhat inclined to agree with Miklos Kalman who wrote:

    “How about the philosophy of the ‘here and now’? The key to happiness is to live the present”.

    We should not try and live in the past because the past is gone and there is nothing we can do about it, so we should not dwell on it, but only learn from it.

    We should not try to live in the future because no one knows what the future holds for us.

    The present however is different. We can control and choose what we are doing in the present moment and the present is to be enjoyed. I think of the present like this: “The present is nothing more then the past plus all of the changes that have been included and passed along to the present. Another way of putting it is, the present is the progress that has been made up until the present, the now.”

    So, progress is good, and progress/change is occurring at an ever accelerating rate. We have progressed from the Stone Age, the Iron Age the Industrial Age, and now the Electronic Age with all of its wonderful technology that can benefit mankind as never before.

    Yes, people are still killing each other (but at a slower rate) and that won’t change anytime soon because of all of the different religious factions and beliefs in the world today. But still we learn, we grow, we change, and so does the world. Ah, how good it is to be alive today! So, enjoy today, and enjoy the moment while it’s still here!

  8. Theo says:
    July 24th, 2007 at 9:31 pm

    Two observations:

    1. I think time still is circular or — better put — spiral-like. It is only a particular contemporary mindset that doesn’t perceive this clearly nowadays. This is the value of celebrating traditional holidays, as Rudolf Steiner pointed out, and as is very deliberately practiced in Waldorf pedagogy. If you make a point of celebrating certain spiritual/natural cyclic events — such as Christmas, Easter, St. Martin’s day, etc. — there is always a sense of how things return, but with richer meaning each time, as one grows in experience and wisdom.

    2. The older I get, the more I realize the past is not gone. I am endlessly re-experiencing the past every day in my memory and re-evaluating the past every time something reminds me of it, and I go back into the treasure troves of memory to mine the valuable lessons to be learned if from this gift called my life.

    Progress does not need to be pursued. It happens naturally if we use the present moment properly.

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