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This essay is an original work by AmesG. It does not necessarily reflect the views expressed in RationalWiki's Mission Statement, but we welcome discussion of a broad range of ideas. Unless otherwise stated, this is original content, released under CC-BY-SA 3.0 or any later version. See RationalWiki:Copyrights. Feel free to make comments on the talk page, which will probably be far more interesting, and might reflect a broader range of RationalWiki editors' thoughts. |
Introduction[edit]
Western society comports itself under the assumption that real progress occurs in the human condition. But this assumption was (1) not always held and (2) not always true. Instead, most ancient societies believed in a previous "Golden Age," from which society had ever since been slipping.
This perspective lost popularity in the Enlightenment period, with the onset of the scientific method and medicine. By 1800, the idea of the inscrutable progress of Western society (as a whole) dominated.