The 12 Core Tenets of Progress Studies
Though shalt not fail to acknowledge them
This article is part of my ongoing series on Progress Studies. You can read more on the topic in the following posts:
The 12 Core Tenets of Progress Studies (this article)
I founded this Substack column partly to help give structure to an emerging field of Progress studies. What is Progress Studies, or more importantly, what do people who study progress tend to believe?
Today Progress Studies is more of an idea than a reality. It consists of a very loose grouping of people who are interested in the concept of progress and think that it is important.
We come from a wide variety of fields including digital technology, history, economics, and politics. Many of us enjoy reading about progress. A few of us also write about progress, whether in the form of a book or a blog. To get an idea of some of the people involved, check out my list of progress-related Subtack columns.
If Progress Studies is going to move past this phase and become a real field of inquiry, we must start to compile what beliefs we currently hold in common and what key questions related to progress need to be answered.
Below is my first step towards defining a few widely-held beliefs within the field. I have also included links to articles that I have written that bolster these beliefs. In the future, I will post many more:
The past few decades and centuries have been a time of great material progress.
This progress is in dramatic contrast to most of human history.
This progress has benefitted the vast majority of mankind. While there are clearly many nations and sub-national minorities who were left out of progress in the past, they are becoming proportionately fewer with each decade.
This progress has disproportionately benefitted the poor and the dispossessed. All societies, including those of today, have had rich and powerful people. Only a few have had widespread prosperity.
This progress originated in Europe sometime in the past.
Some progress thinkers say it started with the Industrial Revolution in Britain. Others say that it started in Medieval or Early Modern Europe. Others say that it started with Ancient Greece and Rome.This progress has gradually spread to most of the globe, though individual progress researchers would include different nations on the list.
Progress is associated with many trends that are good for humanity. Some of these trends are seen by progress thinkers as the result of progress. Other trends are seen as a cause of progress.
Many are seen as both cause and result.Greater scientific understanding of natural phenomenon
Longer life expectancy
Lower rates of infant mortality
Lower rates of tropical diseases and malaria
Higher rates of urbanization
Improved size and quality of housing
Increased food production per capita
Lower levels of hunger and famine
Increased literacy
Increase levels of education
Improved sanitation and clean drinking water
Wider access to electricity and other forms of energy
Increased freedom
Greater levels of opportunities for women
Increased democratic governance
Lower levels of slavery and forced labor
Fewer deaths due to international wars and civil wars
Dozens of other things that do not come immediately to mind…
Not all trends associated with progress are good, but the vast majority are.
Progress is not utopia or an absence of problems. Progress is also entirely compatible with bad events. Identifying exceptions to the trend does not disprove the trend.
Because of all of the above, we believe progress is good for humanity.
Progress is not guaranteed in the future. We must all take action to keep it going.
Therefore, we should study progress systematically so we can develop policies and practices to promote progress in the future.
The above is hardly an exhaustive list of what those who study progress believe, but it is a good place to start. I am sure that some progress thinkers would object to individual items on this list, but few would object to most of them. I deliberately left off several points that I strongly believe in, but my guess is other progress thinkers would object to. Currently, there are far more issues that progress thinkers disagree about (or at least have not systematically discussed them as a group).
My hope is that my book series and articles on this Substack column will increase the number of points that we agree upon and make the field more relevant to everyday people.
Do you consider yourself a Progress Studies researcher? Do you disagree with any of the above? Can you think of any more non-obvious statements that the vast majority of Progress Studies researchers would agree with?
If so, leave a comment.
This article is part of my ongoing series on Progress Studies. You can read more on the topic in the following posts:
The 12 Core Tenets of Progress Studies (this article)
Some people may say that progress happens naturally so there is no need to worry about it or trying to facilitate it. In fact, I would argue that majority of people in Western countries expect progress to continue and flourish. They probably can not even imagine that there may be regress.
Unfortunately another correlate under number 7: lower fertility