Machan's Little Libertarian Encyclopedia
Chapter 12: Progress
In some realms progress means the creation of more and more efficient means by which to achieve worthwhile objectives. So we find that in the area of technology progress has been nearly undeniable (although some argue that with each improvement of the means to reach one worthy objective, the attainment of some other worthy objective has been impeded).
In the field of philosophy there have been some notable champions of the idea that not just humanity's journey in history but that of reality itself is taking a progressive course. The future, on the whole, is always an improvement over the past, not just technologically but ethically, aesthetically, politically and so forth. Hegel and Marx are obvious examples of progressivism but John Stuart Mill and Herbert Spencer are also likely candidates.
In contemporary science fiction the idea is commonplace that humanity is always lurching ahead and only through unnatural influences does it ever regress. There are detractors even here, one's who hold that the future will be worse than the past has been.
In particular there is a good deal of thinking that see the future improved by means of genetic engineering and other artificial means, to the point that some envision human beings improved intellectually and even morally. Arguably, however, such a picture challenges the idea that those who would embody these improvements would still be human beings. This is because one of the most well entrenched conceptions of human nature is that we are all capable of both good and evil, regardless of our levels of intelligence. So while progress may be possible in one or another special region of human life, the idea that humanity in its essence might somehow become upgraded is likely to be wrong.
What is likely is that progress of the fundamental sort that motivates the works of optimistic science fiction writers can take place only in the course of an individual's life. Someone may become a better and better person, yes, although even there nothing is guaranteed. Certainly one can improve skills and techniques, play an instrument, play a sport better and better up to a point. Although the inevitability of death and old age seem to place a limit before everyone's progress.
When one is inclined, as have been Hegel and Marx, among others, to treat humanity (even reality) as a developing organism, the idea of holistic progress comes naturally to one's mind, since the organisms with which we are familiar, including ourselves, do undergo progress. But the extrapolation is probably mistaken. Progress of the kind that would in the future remove the necessity for individual effort, for vigilance and tenacity is not likely to be possible.
In general the kind of progress that is reasonable to strive for in human communities has to do with individual self-improvement, some measure of improvement on the system of laws, and the overall deployment of technologically improved means for doing what is important to people. None of this, however, can reasonably be guaranteed or expected and regress, stagnation, as well as progress, are always a possibility.