What tarnations is this "progress" thing anyway? My definition for the masses.

Quite an intriguing question to be asked; what is “progress?” Before I ramble on about what progress means to me, I feel that defining the term itself may help in understanding its importance. Progress is any positive movement. Moving beyond the limits of whatever is considered to be status-quo. Growth where growth is needed is what defines progress. America was once the progressive innovation capitol of the world. In some ways, it still is. We have a great deal of freedom here (despite the fact of our leaders are imposing on it from time to time). The freedom to make create and improve upon when and where it’s needed makes up the very essence of progress. In short, progress IS freedom and freedom IS progress.

The importance of progress surely varies among different people. Our generation may have one set of views while our ancestors may have thought about it in completely different ways. Personally, progress is important to me because it’s one of the few things that keeps the world moving into the future. Progress is the movement into an improved future and it is happening every day. When I think about chemists working on new medicines to fight disease and discovering new data, I consider that progress. They are slowly but surely moving their own field of study into the future. It isn’t only chemists who make me think this way. Returning to freedom for a moment; there was a time when writers were persecuted for what they wrote because it didn’t conform. Over many years, social progress put an end to that. The age old batter between the Church and science has changed. The idea that the Earth was the center of the universe was disproved and accepted by progressive clergymen who decided to believe and the astronomers who made groundbreaking progress with their inventions and studies. Evolution is progress as well (although that isn’t really controlled through a living creatures will). I believe that a world without progress is not a world worth living in. With the exception of some religious sects, people like to live for a change so to speak. The world runs on progress like an everlasting battery and I certainly hope that the power won’t run out.

Moving on, we explore the methods of how progress is achieved. Progress is usually a three step process. The first step is something most all of us take part in from time to time. One sees, hears, experiences, discovers, or remembers something that they don’t like. It may be the economy, society, religion, government, environment, or even the world as a whole. This is because most people aren’t content with every last aspect of the world. The second step is where the numbers begin to narrow. This is the step where one thinks up one or more ideas of how the displeasing element can be changed for the better. There are a fairly decent percent of people who don’t look further than the problem itself. The idea could be as simple as writing a letter to someone in Congress or as difficult as inventing some beneficial product in a basement. Finally we come to the third step. At this point the numbers drop dramatically. This is the point in which action is taken. One actually must carry out their idea(s) either by themselves or with others and hopefully make an impact. Even if the element in question isn’t removed or changed for the better, chances are, others will join the cause. Perhaps those who can make the change will see the problem for what it really is and rectify it. In my opinion, progress is just as much the driving force of ideas and actions as it is the results of it.

Progress is divided into several levels. There is personal progress and community progress. Social, economic, and governmental progress are a step up from that. At the top is world progress. World progress is probably the most important and yet the slowest moving form of all. It involves nations working with each other to better the entire world and not just themselves. Progress moves so slowly here because where one nation may see an action as progression, another may see it as regression and non-beneficial to themselves. Very few actions can be made that benefit the entire world but the idea of it still exists.

Well that concludes my blog on what I think progress is, what it means to me, and how it can be achieved. Enjoy.