ipl-logo

Progress And Religion

1518 Words7 Pages

The thought of progress is a phenomenon that is unquestioned of why it is happening within the world. Progress is the notion that a certain subject or object is being brought into a greater or better outcome than it was set at its predetermined state. With the thought of progress, there is no telling whether progress happens because of a Devine being setting a predetermined fate for the human public or by reflecting on the past and learning from past occurrences. Throughout history of the world thus far, progress has been stationed through two factors. The two factors consist of Religion and REN (race, ethnicity, or nationality). Specifically, two authors, Edward W. Byrn and H. G. Wells, discusses their own opinion consisting between the thought …show more content…

G. Wells thinks that progress is related with religion and REN through the thought that the world can not be led and brought out by one single man. It is God, himself, who decides the future and with that the future is obscure and unknown to the world. They both discuss this relation, but ultimately have far different views regarding this topic.

H. G. Wells discussion regarding progress and the relationship between religion and REN is built around the thought that to make sense of progress that had happened so far in history, one has to realize that the future and progress itself is mainly set by a divine being (God) and through a slight ironic statement that we can only understand the future of progress by looking at the past. In H. G wells article, “The Discovery of the Future”, he explains that one single man, cannot rule the world. Wells goes on to elaborate that by looking at past experiences one is able to illustrate and show that only a divine being is able to determine progress of the world. To exemplify, in H. G. Wells article, “The discovery of the future”, he states, “I must confess I believe that if by some juggling with space and time Julius Ceasar, Napoleon, Edward …show more content…

Byrn argument is based through the thought that in order to have a vision of progress one has to look back at past developments that have happened throughout the world so far and take a sense of why it has shaped the notion of progress in today’s world. In Edward W. Byrn’s article, “The Progress of Invention During the Past Fifty Years”, Byrn leans towards the example of the United States in which it has created a sense of progress through the notion of development. To be specific, Byrn states, “To him what a vista it must present; what a convergence of the perspective; for the past fifty years represents an epoch of invention and progress unique in this history of the world” (Byrn 1896). Byrn is explaining that during this time, man only looked upon the past as an example to progress mankind through many inventions. Considering the future of the United States, Byrn brings up many inventions such as: the railway and telegraph, patents, house printing telegraphy, and so forth (Byrn 1896) that have made progress possible in the United States and has given an entitlement to the belief that through these certain inventions the human population is able to put a meaning to the world. Though Byrn argues that mankind is able to get this thought about development it has not always started with humans. He brings up the thought that the development that has happened so far in history is only a building ladder that was set by God. For instance, Byrn states, “The old word of

Show More
Related

  • Lewis Morgan Book Review

    458 Words  | 2 Pages

    Knowledge that would be gained by way of inventions and discoveries and by the growth of the ideas of government, of family, and property. Morgan demarcated this evolution of culture into three eras; savagery being the bottom, barbarism being the middle, and civilization being the top and what man would strive for. Taking it even further those stages were then divided by technological inventions including, use of fire, pottery, and weapons in the savage era, horticulture, domestication and cultivation in the barbarism era, and finally the alphabet, writing, and architecture in civilization thus showing a correlation between social progress and technological progress. Morgan viewed this technological progress as the single driving force behind social progress, and believed that any social change has their beginning in the change of

    Read More

  • The Functionalist Perspective: What Role Does Religion Play In Society

    809 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Functionalist Perspective seeks to understand the role that religion plays in society, and is premised on how religion satisfies basic needs. One basic need for people is a meaning system. Religion provides a worldview and meaning system for the followers of the faith. But the ideals that a religion encompass alone are often not enough to compel one to follow the religion. Symbols and rituals are vital for helping the believer to take beliefs and make them understood internally in a way that compels them to follow the religion’s rules.

    Read More

  • Complacency In The Time Machine

    765 Words  | 4 Pages

    In H.G Wells book, The Time Machine, he discusses the fate of mankind by telling the story of a time traveler. The Time Traveler goes to 802,701 A.D and is surprised about the future society that awaits him. Wells in the book uses his own ideas about survival of the fittest; however, he also incorporates ideas from Edwin Lankaster’s essay, “A Chapter in Darwinism”. In Lankaster’s essay, he discusses the concept of degeneration, which in turn has been shown in the future society. Wells uses the causes of degeneration; complacency and the lack of challenge to emphasize the possible fate that humankind.

    Read More

  • John Bodley's Price Of Progress

    248 Words  | 1 Pages

    John Bodley’s article, “Price of Progress”, argues that America and other developed countries worry about economic development less than developing countries. The economies in developed countries believe that every culture should be full of progress. Progress in economies is defined by how high your income is, how high your standard of living is, greater security and how good your health is. The most common used measure of progress is one’s standard of living. The lowest class of people is the tribal people who have different cultures and lifestyles and they find ways to survive on their own.

    Read More

  • Gun Control Conflict Theory

    1647 Words  | 7 Pages

    This theory was conceptualized by C. Wright Mills in 1948-1962 (Ralph Dahrendorf, Lewis Coser, and others also advocated this theory) as he was criticizing

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Leslie White And Alvin Toffler

    495 Words  | 2 Pages

    The world is ever changing through technological advances, innovative ideas and a need to further advance our society. Innovation has become an essential part of society. Individual viewpoints have been provided to understand concepts leading to improvement however the most prevailing viewpoints being that of Gerhard Lenski, Leslie White, and Alvin Toffler. To get a predominant cognizance of these thoughts, it is fundamental to take a look at and get these three viewpoints and the crucial part they play in depicting the improvement for development. Gerhard Lenski specified that technological progress is the motivation behind civilization evolving throughout history.

    Read More

  • Jared Diamond's Theory Of Geographic Luck

    708 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ever since the early days, development has been a fundamental element of our society, driven by technological progress and human ambition. Importantly, people have changed radically throughout time, and our past has significantly influenced our modern technologies. According to Jared Diamond 's theory on geographic luck, the development and advancement of contemporary superpowers were triggered by past events, such as the industrial revolution. Take Japan for example or America, both of these powerful countries have had a stable and fast-developing history, advancing through stages of hunting, to farming, to improvements in education and technology. However, my focus is about the most significant development in time: technology and how it helped society gain and use resources.

    Read More

  • Essay On Technological Determinism

    1204 Words  | 5 Pages

    The first part states that technological development takes place outside the society and follows its own course. For example, the development of more powerful microprocessors in the computing industry is described as following Moore’s law, which states that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit doubles every two years. Oftentimes, technological progression is described as a process of standalone inventions that build

    Read More

  • A Brave New World Essay

    677 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout much of modern history the primary goal of mankind has been that of constant progress. The progress that has been made so far, in the last century for example, is staggering and applies to both scientific and societal matters. One of the questions raised by Aldous Huxley’s work Brave New World is whether this kind of progress is leading to a desirable future. The would-be utopian society depicted by the novel is technically perfect when it comes to the major issues our society must face: there are no conflicts or diseases, everyone has the basic necessities, and all citizens are happy. However the Brave New World would be considered by most to be a dystopia because of how different it is from our own society.

    Read More

  • Technology: Technological Development, And The Evolution Of Technology

    721 Words  | 3 Pages

    This article will compare the point of view of Gerhard Lenski, Leslie White and Alvin Toffler with respect to the evolution of technology. Gerhard Lenski’s perspective on the evolution of technology Sociologist Gerhard Lenski maintained that technological process has been the driving force in the evolution of human civilization; focusing on the societal and cultural basics of society. He viewed human society as something of a process of change involving a society’s level of modernization, communication, and scientific advances. In Gerhard Lenski’s point of view, it is a society 's level of technology that is critical for its survival.

    Read More

  • Degeneration In H. G. Wells's The Time Machine

    1501 Words  | 7 Pages

    However, Wells takes this theory further in his fictionalization of the degeneration of mankind. In The Time Machine, the Traveller journeys to the year 802,701 and is met by the Eloi, the descendants of mankind. Expecting mankind to have evolved progressively, he is disappointed by the Eloi’s “physical slightness […] their lack of intelligence” (Wells 32). This issue of Victorian progressivism has been explored by Peter Kemp who argues that The Time Machine “is designed to discredit what he [Wells] called ‘Bio-Optimism’ […] the hopeful belief that life must steadily

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Inventions In Frankenstein

    741 Words  | 3 Pages

    Humans strive for innovation and for improvements in humanity. Throughout each generation there are inventions created to improve productivity or improve humanity. Inventions have made the world, both better off and worst off. Some inventions are made to benefit the productivity or the health of others while some inventions accidentally harm people. The goal of the invention is to create good for the people and not to create harm.

    Read More

  • Technological Determinism: A Reductionist Theory

    759 Words  | 4 Pages

    Technology is viewed as the driving force of culture in a society and one that determines its course of history. Karl Marx believed that technological progress lead to newer ways of production in a society and this ultimately influenced the cultural, political and economic aspects of a society, thereby inevitably changing society itself. He explained this statement with the example of how a feudal society that used a hand mill slowly changed into an industrial capitalist society with the introduction of the steam mill. Winner’s Hypotheses Langdon Winner provided two hypotheses for this theory: 1. The technology of a given society is a fundamental influencer of the various ways in which a society exists.

    Read More

  • Sherlock Holmes A Scandal In Bohemia

    1363 Words  | 6 Pages

    In last few decades or even centuries, advancement in various aspects brought a huge success in “convenient modern life,” in which people can do something time-efficiently and in greater variety. However, there has been a controversy whether such progress actually brings positive consequences or it has great potential to cause detrimental effects to the world. While some may assert that every kind of progress is a success in many aspects, I believe it is problematic in many cases. In other words, progress, in any matter, is undoubtedly a positive signal that notifies an improvement in certain quality; however, development, at the same time, also signifies a sacrifice of a degree in another quality. Upon the closer scrutiny of literary works

    Read More

  • The Influence Of Religion On Morality

    976 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Need for Religion on Morality Morality, commonly defined as, “a system of rules, psychological states, and modes of character development which performs the function of enabling mutually beneficial social cooperation” (Luco 1). Morals arise in many ways. Some morals come through family and childhood upbringing while other morals are provided by the church. Some say that religion is inessential for morality. On the contrary, others provide that religion provides a foundation for moral growth.

    Read More

More about Progress And Religion

Open Document