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> Sure it sometimes takes a few life times, but we’ve never moved permanently backwards before

Playing devil's advocate here: perhaps that's because we always think of things that we're doing now as "right"? For instance there are societies in history that were open to some sexual relationships that we are not (mainly the ones involving minors or incest). At times in european history, animals were tried for crimes similarly to people. Are we more or less progressive than they are?

Well, your example kind of proves my point as society has improved by not thinking incest is great.

> This also reads a little weird. The author is obviously well versed in history and the progression of civilisation, and as such, must be aware that we’ve always moved in a progressive direction. Sure it sometimes takes a few life times, but we’ve never moved permanently backwards before, so it would be rather strange if we started doing that now.

As a counterpoint, I'd read the essay "The Whig Interpretation of History"(1931). Her criticizes the notion of interpreting history as a story of progress.

Review: https://partiallyexaminedlife.com/2015/11/19/philosophy-of-h...

> we’ve never moved permanently backwards before, so it would be rather strange if we started doing that now.

It would not be strange. It would be unexpected. It reminds me of this funny little story:

> "Every morning on a turkey farm, the farmer comes to feed the turkeys. A scientist turkey, having observed this pattern to hold without change for almost a year, makes the following discovery: “Every morning at eleven, food arrives.” On the morning of Thanksgiving, the scientist announces this law to the other turkeys. But that morning at eleven, food doesn’t arrive; instead, the farmer comes and kills the entire flock."

In the long run sure, but that doesn't mean there can't be set backs and temporary regressions.

> The population of Africa continues its rapid growth, resulting in a mass migration into Europe...

For the previous century's version of this trope: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rising_Tide_of_Color_Again...

> ... we’ve always moved in a progressive direction. Sure it sometimes takes a few life times, but we’ve never moved permanently backwards before, so it would be rather strange if we started doing that now.

I suppose it depends on what you mean by "we" here. There are plenty of societies that moved permanently backwards, and are currently quite far behind where they previously were. Iran is a regressive theocracy and used to be a very modern country. China had a beautiful intellectual culture that contributed immensely to the world and is currently a genocidal despotocracy. Egypt was the intellectual capitol of the known world. In the middle east, there were generations of people who thought that the ruins of the civilizations that came before them must have been made by gods because they couldn't fathom them being created by humans.

Civilizations backslide, and die, regularly throughout history.

Now, if you mean "we" as in humanity as a whole, it's a tougher question. I do agree that humanity as a whole makes progress forward on a long enough timelines, but there were still many stumbling blocks along the way.

We've also never had access to the kind of world-changing power we have now. Rome couldn't cause nuclear winter or irreversible climate change.

Rome quite literally wiped entire civilisations off the map. Sure they didn’t use nukesc but what’s the difference when everyone in your culture dies?

>we’ve never moved permanently backwards before,

If we did, how would we know?

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