RIP Human Progress (1945-1971)

The moon landing. Birth control. Civil rights. The cultural and technological achievements from 1945 to 1971 represent a "Golden Quarter" in human progress, according to science writer Michael Hanlon in a new article over at Aeon. Since then, Hanlon insists, we've stalled out. But he really couldn't be more wrong.

Encouragingly, Hanlon's piece actually opens by injecting some much needed skepticism into the myths of accelerating change. I've picked apart a few of the myths in this way of thinking myself.

"Yet a moment's thought tells us that this vision of unparalleled innovation can't be right, that many of these breathless reports of progress are in fact mere hype, speculation even fantasy," Hanlon writes about the futurism hype machine of 2014.

And he's absolutely correct. People are too quick to believe that technological progress is exponential. But then Hanlon overcorrects. The article quickly descends into a romanticization of the postwar era; a bizarre fantasy world wherein no real progress has occurred in the last 45 years be it social, cultural, or technological.

"Yet there once was an age when speculation matched reality. It spluttered to a halt more than 40 years ago," Hanlon writes. An age when speculation matched reality? Tell that to every Baby Boomer still waiting for a flying car or jetpack or 20-hour work week.

Hanlon may have legitimate concerns about specific areas of progress (or lack thereof) since he was a kid. But that doesn't mean we've stopped innovating since 1970. The suggestion that we have is just about the oldest complaint in history. And it negates the significant progress we've made in so many areas here in the 21st century.

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Hanlon insists that the period between 1945 and 1971 was a "true age of innovation," and since then, social and technological progress has been merely incremental. The major problem with his assertion? Progress has always been incremental. Even in this supposed "Golden Quarter" as he calls it.

Hanlon writes in Aeon:

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RIP Human Progress (1945-1971)