OddballGreg - The Human Need For Progress

Debatable that there is no greater symbol of progress for the human race than the first time man stepped foot on another planet.

Progress. In life, humans actively seek progress in order to substantiate their lives, either in progress towards ambitions and goals, or by simply progressing through life itself. What is, however, interesting to note is how important this progress is to the very existence of humanity. Lets talk about that.

Water is frequently used as a metaphor for life. (Probably because it's so important for sustaining life.) When stagnant, it is foul, disease ridden and often filled with decaying matter which is likely to turn any a stomach which has the displeasure of drinking it. Suffice to say, drinking stagnant water is usually a good way to have a disease induced death. Flowing water, on the other hand, is typically free in it's movement, flowing wherever it may. While perhaps not 100% clean at the best of times, the fact that it remains in motion allows it to filter through all manner of rocks and vegetation, often cleaning it of substantial detritus, if not microbial dirt. (Please... at least boil water you get from a natural source before you drink it... Even clean water can probably kill you, which is ironically accurate for this topic.)

Both examples are accurate metaphors for human life in a multitude of ways, and feed back into the human need for progress. Let us take the more literal for example. A sedentary lifestyle, in which a person sits doing nothing all the time, leads to all manner of health issues such as muscle atrophy, obesity, heart issues and various other problems, and that's without even considering the psychological issues which may arise. Basically, it doesn't do a person much good to do thing and make no progress. Your average healthy person on the hand typically does some amount of exercise in their days, either actively or just from the need to move around with their lifestyle, they are continually making progress as they move to different destinations, accomplish goals which progress them towards their life's ambition, and are just all round healthier and happier for what they do. Like the flowing water example, they might not be in perfect happiness or health as things can happen, (like picking up strange diseases from drinking unpurified river water), but they are far less ill and sickly than the stagnant variant.

Clear as day, progress is important. Very important. Interestingly enough, this need for progress in the sustaining of human life is multi-faceted and applies in some interesting and somewhat less obvious ways. Economy, Education, Healthcare, Research, Civilisation as a whole and many other things, are all based upon progress and require it in order continue functioning.

Consider the global economic depression that was suffered by the world back in 2009. While perhaps not as harrowing as "The Great Depression" was for the USA back in the 1900's, it was still a somewhat frightening time for many countries in the world. And part, if not the main reason for it, was the lack of economic growth for an extended period, which ultimately resulted in the world's economies starting to fall in on themselves due to this lack of progress. In terms of this article's argument, the system began to decay due to it's stagnation.

In grander scheme's, consider ancient civilizations such as the Inca's, The Zulu Kingdom, or even the Roman Empire. All 3 of these, among others, came to their untimely demise due to a lack of progress. The Inca's had not progressed enough to defend themselves from the Spanish Conquistadors or to treat themselves of the diseases that they brought. The Zulu Kingdom, though strong and lead by a brilliant military strategist, was met with it's demise due to it's lack of progress towards more effective methods of warfare, as the various colonists vying for Southern Africa brought their European gunpowder weapons to bear against them. The Roman Empire's decline was the result of it's inability to make progress against the growing Gaul and general barbarian populations, as well as the stagnation of it's politics and culture as continual vying for power in the empire fractured it between multiple factions.

I can continue to list examples, but the point, I think, is clear enough, humanity is somewhat rather dependent on progress in order to survive and thrive, where the success of any one man, civilization or the race of the whole, is dependent on it's ability to match progress against it's adversaries, or even nature itself, as without progress, the ultimate result cannot be anything other than slow decay and ultimate death. (Phew.... that's not a somber thought. Listen to this to lighten up.)

This is probably going to change your outlook on how the world works from now on... maybe. If not, it is an interesting thing to consider, and I look forward to hearing any counter-arguments or theories you may have, down in the comments below, or via Facebook/Twitter. Of course, if you have some friends who would enjoy weighing on such a discussion, then perhaps share this article with them as well. I'm sure they will appreciate it. And if you yourself would like to read more interesting and thoughtful posts such as this one, consider liking the Official TCSA Facebook page and/or following us on Twitter using the associated buttons on the bar to the left. Regardless of what you do, I thank you having taken the time to read this post; hope that you have/had an absolutely FANTASTIC day, and I will speak again soon.

Happy thinking my friends.