The Idea of Progress - Should we be worried about the idea of progress?

My presentation is going to deal with the idea of progress. First, I would like to give a definition of progress. Progress can be defined as an improvement, a development or a change. It’s the idea that the world and society can evolve positively. Scientific Progress can take the form of medical advances, cures for illnesses, cloning, performance enhancing drugs, or genetically modified organisms. Technological Progress could be for example advances in communication with the internet, social media or mobile phones. It could also be robots and automated production, or nuclear power.

Although technological progress and scientific progress often seems to improve our life, there are nevertheless people who argue that they can also be harmful and dangerous. So it’s important to think about social progress. We must think about progress in relation to education, employment, equality, family life, liberty or democracy for instance.

The question therefore is: should we be worried about the idea of Progress?

Firstly, I will study the positive and negative impacts of technological progress on society. Then, I will do the same for scientific progress.

1) Man vs machines

A lot of science-fiction films and books have explored what technological progress could represent for man. Isaac Asimov for instance did this in his stories. What he examined was the relationship between machines and man. Robots until some fifty years ago only existed in our imagination. Nowadays, they are part of our lives. They’ve begun to appear in our homes, hospitals and workplaces. They could perform household chores and do boring or monotonous jobs for humans. In the future, they could probably help to look after children or the elderly, or act as assistants. They will probably be used more and more often to face dangerous situations and save human lives.

This would make life easier for humans in theory. Unfortunately, what we see is the opposite. Machines and robots are fast and reliable. They are actually faster and more reliable than humans. They never get tired so they can do the job better than humans, in factories for example, on automated assembly lines. This means that people in today’s society have lost or are losing their job because they have been replaced. Man has therefore to compete against machines.

Another danger for mankind is possible: for robots to turn against their creators. In 2011, a super computer named Watson competed against two humans in the TV game ‘Jeopardy’. Watson had trouble in a few categories but it eventually won versus two experienced candidates. This showed that computers are capable of outsmarting humans. In his fictional universe, Isaac Asimov invented the Three Laws of Robotic to protect people and prevent robots from hurting them. Robots still managed to take control and artificial intelligence in many other books and films is seen as potentially dangerous for man and for liberty.

2) Man vs superman

Another question is what impact scientific progress has on society. For sure, medicine has increased life-expectancy. Drugs such as aspirin or vaccinations have saved a lot of lives. Doctors can now cure a lot of diseases and help people who are seriously sick. Artificial hearts can now be implanted. People who’ve lost a leg or an arm

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