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The Myth of Progress

ladyinwhite's picture

 I thought it contradictory that after having read the Friere text, we were assigned quite a few readings for next class…

 “Change is an inherently progressive force, that this is a human-centered universe, that mechanism provides the best explanatory framework for understanding organic processes”

 I cannot help but connect this idea of the “subjectively-centered self…in mainstream western culture” as something incredibly medieval sounding. Science has long known about the Heliocentric model of the earth for centuries, and yet, we revert to Geocentric thought. As well as this, the thought that change in inherently progressive is another medieval form of though. Newton’s Second Law of Thermodynamics says that such theories of progress through time, and through change, is false. Even when a house is build – a supposedly progressive act – the resources are being taken away from the earth, aiding its gradual descent to chaos.

 I am curious about the overlap between today’s thought and that of the medieval people, we seem to share very much in common, even though we have made much “progress”

 This is one aspect of the myth and paradox of progress.

 The word ‘science’ is derived from the Latin ‘Scientia’ meaning, ‘knowledge’. I would like to discuss how the current meaning of this world is problematic and needs to be recovered in its ancient understanding.