I recently watched Surviving Progress (2011) which is currently streaming on Netflix. The film is based on the book A Short History of Progress by Ronald Wright. He introduces the concept of the "progress trap" to explain what he identifies as a repeated and ongoing problem with technological development. As humans, we value progress, the match forward, no matter what the cost. The same technological invovations we develop to solve problems often cause new problems we can't solve. In his words "many of the great ruins that grace the deserts and jungles of the earth are monuments to progress traps, the headstones of civilizations which fell victim to their own success" (8).
I believe the film is worth watching even though many arguments veer torward technological determinism.
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