What does "progress" actually mean?
in Philosophy ·
James Lee77 said:But wait, is it even clear what a "better life" actually means? Like, would we all even agree on which lives are good and which ones suck?
Take Matthieu Ricard, for example. He’s sixty, lives totally alone, pretty much has nothing, no family, no kids, and hasn't had a sex life in decades. He barely owns anything to call his own. Is he living a good life or not? And would it really be "progress" if more people ended up living exactly like him?
But here's the thing—based on MRI brain scans (and what he says himself), he seems to be the happiest guy on the planet (well, at least out of everyone they've tested so far). (Check it out here.)
So, I guess... is that a "good life" if that guy is constantly experiencing pure happiness?
I don't see the mystery here.
To me, it looks perfectly logical that he's happy.
(And honestly, you can actually see the progress: people are constantly chasing things. All human "progress" is just a constant scramble toward whatever we think we need next.
This guy has moved forward to a point where most of those "needs" simply don't exist for him anymore. If that isn't real progress, I don't know what is.)