In my final round of research I will look at how we can evaluate whether progress is good or bad. Progress can be judged as good or bad based on the impact it has on people, society, and the world around us. One important way to evaluate progress is by looking at who benefits the most from it and who may be harmed or left behind. For example, new technology can make life easier, improve communication, and create jobs, but it can also lead to pollution, job loss in certain industries, or unequal access between rich and poor communities. (1)
Another important thing is fairness. Progress that only benefits a small group of people may not truly help society as a whole. Good progress should improve opportunities and quality of life for many people rather than increasing inequality. People also consider whether the long-term effects are positive or harmful. Some improvements may seem helpful at first but create serious problems later, especially for the environment or future generations. (2)
Certain types of progress may also be considered more helpful than others. For example, medical advances that save lives are often viewed as highly valuable because they directly improve human health and well-being. (3) Also, some forms of economic or technological progress may be questioned if they create more harm than good. In the end, evaluating progress means looking at both the good and bad consequences, and whether it improves things. (4)
#3- Global Health – Our World in Data
#4- Search | WIRED
Hi, Nicola!
I really enjoyed reading your blog post! You have certainly stated many good points, and the fact that you had so much research behind your work is both impressive and crucial as you back up your personal opinions. At first, your post had really intrigued me because I had believed that your research of progress was more about the benefits and disadvantages of personal progress or growth–like in sports or hobbies. Instead, I found that I still really liked your take on the societal impacts of progress! That makes me think of the debates and protests going on about AI and AI data centers during this time, and I would love to hear what you think about those kinds of technological advances in our society.
Lastly, I noticed that you covered a lot of incredibly important points in this post, and I would love to possibly read your work if you choose to ever go more in depth about the issues you mentioned. One of the huge problems I definitely agree with is that modern advances can be unjust towards different societal/financial classes, and your mention of modern progress taking careers, creating new ones, really reminded me of our modern day Industrial Revolution progress. Here’s a cool paper about that, you could maybe be interested in! :
https://www.law.georgetown.edu/denny-center/blog/industrial-revolution/