We need a new philosophy of progress for the 21st century. [...] One that acknowledges the problems of progress, confronts them directly, and offers solutions.
Can you expand on what you mean by “problems of progress”? My tentative interpretation is “social problems caused by technological progress”, so for example climate change caused by fossil fuels, political polarization and misinformation spread by social media, and potential nuclear war made possible by nuclear weapons. But to the extent that these problems are solvable, it seems necessary to solve them on a case by case basis, using knowledge from the social sciences (e.g., evolutionary psychology, economics, game theory, international relations) and/or the physical sciences. It’s not clear to me what role a “new philosophy of progress” could play in trying to solve these problems. Can you please elaborate?
Problems do have to be solved case-by-case, but your basic premises and values—philosophy—guides what kind of solutions you will seek, how you evaluate them, and what you will accept.
For instance, to address climate change, how do you feel about seeking abundant, cheap, clean energy via nuclear/solar/geothermal? Carbon capture? Geoengineering? Degrowth? Those are very different approaches.
From https://rootsofprogress.org/a-new-philosophy-of-progress:
Can you expand on what you mean by “problems of progress”? My tentative interpretation is “social problems caused by technological progress”, so for example climate change caused by fossil fuels, political polarization and misinformation spread by social media, and potential nuclear war made possible by nuclear weapons. But to the extent that these problems are solvable, it seems necessary to solve them on a case by case basis, using knowledge from the social sciences (e.g., evolutionary psychology, economics, game theory, international relations) and/or the physical sciences. It’s not clear to me what role a “new philosophy of progress” could play in trying to solve these problems. Can you please elaborate?
Problems do have to be solved case-by-case, but your basic premises and values—philosophy—guides what kind of solutions you will seek, how you evaluate them, and what you will accept.
For instance, to address climate change, how do you feel about seeking abundant, cheap, clean energy via nuclear/solar/geothermal? Carbon capture? Geoengineering? Degrowth? Those are very different approaches.