Progress

[koolkrishman]

This idea of progress in AP US History makes me feel good because it's like a debate topic. In debate, to weigh the round, you have things called standards. The set of standards is how you measure things. You have a value and a criterion. The value is something that you think is good. In itself it is a subjective matter in the real world, but debaters usually agree on a standard though there can still be debate. the more important standard is the criterion, which measures how you achieve your value. For example, if a value is breathing, then a criterion might be number of breaths per second. Anyway, if your still reading, i'll get to my point. Just like what wern said (blizzard2007), everyone is going to have different standards. As Adam Smith, one of the cornerstone economists, once said, everyone is out for their self interest. Using this idea, i don't think a standard can be agreed upon in this day and age to measure progress. Everyone has some alterior motive, wheter that's apparent of subconscience. for example, i might want to become a doctor someday, but to a christian scientist that may not be progress. The idea of progress is a very subjective issue. As it pertains to a societal level, progress can be made as a whole if unanimous. But, if 1 person contradicts that "progression" then it can't be considered progress as a whole.

A lot of this has to do with some type of underlying religion as well. relgion influences people quite a bit, and their standards of morals can be differing. i think there's always going to be some diverse religion out their that justifies murder, but should society rule out their form of thinking? I think everything that affects a society will be somewhat exclusionary because of this diversity (well, maybe in the United States), and that there can't be a standard that everyone agrees upon.

K