My latest!

The “progress” myth is one of the most deeply held beliefs in contemporary Western society. It asserts that new technologies always improve quality of life. Sure, maybe a new invention has some down-sides, but overall the benefits outweigh the harms. The history of civilized humanity is viewed as a ladder, with every new invention or method elevating us above our ancestors in both mental sophistication and physical comfort.

Like many of our cherished, but unexamined—and ultimately false—worldviews, the “progress” myth emerged in Western Europe in the 18h and 19th Centuries with the Industrial Revolution. This was a tumultuous period marked by widespread dislocations of previously stable social orders, during which mechanization supplanted handicrafts and transformed agrarian methods. Everything got turned upside down.