Progress is a modern Myth

I had this wrong. It is true that "Progress" is an illusion that keeps Western people struggling for an unobtainable future. But my reasoning was wrong.

There has clearly been development in the West. Understanding of the natural world in the sciences has expanded enormously. Technology is on an ever speeding upward turn. Mastery of the air, of travel in general, communications, of medicine, of psychology are unquestionably in progress. But this is not real progress!

Hidden within the idea of progress is that humans have a common goal and history is drawn upon a single running track with the past behind us and the future ahead. The West, and indeed every society that has ever existed, believes that it is further along this track than its neighbours. Each human likes to view themselves along similar running tracks, maybe the track of money accumulation, or possessions, or wisdom, or intelligence, or beauty.

In reality human life has no goal. There is no end point in what is a vast and boundless country large enough to accomodate every dream and aspiration. People travel in all directions some in races along set tracks, others in races along different tracks. Tracks spring up and decay, races begin and end, but the result is always the same ... nothing. We may travel some distance in a direction, but this might be the opposite way to that of another race. Our "progress" can only be measured relative to the race we think we are competing in. If we change races half way through we find we might find we are going the wrong way!

Once again the notion of progress stems only from a point of view. Our travelling has no real meaning. Hidden in the view of western "Progress" is a goal, a belief about what life is about: namely that ease of manufacture and ease of getting what we want is what life is about. Of course this is idiotic because just how easy do you need to get? and what do we do once we can achieve everything with no effort? what is life then? We'd just invent new games and struggles to occupy ourselves and give senses of achievement.

Development can occur anywhere whether it is flint axes in the neolithic period, guitaring in rock music, or rockets in space travel... but there is no absolute "progress" by which one person can be measured against another. there can only be success and failure in the rules of the game. The slowest runner, might be the most beautiful, the fastest might be the least intelligent. Which standard do you fix, and why?

Liberation is freedom from absolute measures, the ability to change games and see the global diversity of boundless games and human aspiration, and also the ultimate pointless liberation that this view gives.

s that a new race? The race to achieve liberation? only if you aren't liberated yes.