About the Progress Forum

The Progress Forum is the online home for the progress community.

The primary goal of this forum is to provide a place for long-form discussion of progress studies and the philosophy of progress. It’s also a place to find local clubs and meetups.

The broader goal is to share ideas, strengthen them through discussion and comment, and over the long term, to build up a body of thought that constitutes a new philosophy of progress for the 21st century (and beyond).

FAQ

What is “progress studies”?

“Progress studies” is an intellectual community and movement focused on understanding the causes of human progress, so that we can keep it going and even accelerate it.

What do you mean by “progress”?

Progress is the sum of the advances in science, technology, industry, government, and society, and the resulting improvement in living standards and human well-being, especially over the last few centuries.

I’m new to progress studies, what is a good intro?

A few starting points:

“We Need a New Science of Progress,” by Patrick Collison and Tyler Cowen (The Atlantic)
“The short history of global living conditions and why it matters that we know it,” by Max Roser (Our World in Data)
“Progress studies as a moral imperative,” by Jason Crawford
“How does progress happen?” (Vox interview with Jason Crawford)
“Innovation around innovation—studying the science of progress” (Patrick Collison on The Economist podcast)
“A Conversation with Mark Zuckerberg, Patrick Collison and Tyler Cowen” (video)

Who is the Forum for?

The Progress Forum is for anyone interested in reading about and discussing progress. You don’t have to be an expert or to have read anything in particular—we welcome newbies.

What topics are relevant here?

Conversations on the Progress Forum will span a variety of topics, including:

The definition of “progress”
How to measure progress
The value of progress: pros, cons, risks, trade-offs
The causes of progress, and which ones are fundamental
The intellectual history of the idea of progress
Technological stagnation: its causes and solutions
Histories of progress in various fields: technology, law, economics
Opportunities and bottlenecks in various fields
Concrete visions of the future
Progress and safety (including existential risk)
Progress-minded approaches to other issues of the day (climate change, poverty/inequality, war, etc.)
The philosophy of progress in comparis

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Developing countries