Progress
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Dec 15, 2025
The Intoxication of Progress: Are We Addicted to Our Own Tools?
Our relationship with technology: a tree that grows from our own needs but may overshadow our original selves.
We often imagine technology as a ladder—each rung lifting us higher, granting clearer vision and greater mastery over our world. But what if it is something else entirely? What if our grand narrative of human progress shares an unsettling kinship with the story of an addict chasing a high? This metaphor—technology as a dependency, civilization as an addiction—offers a provocative lens to examine our trajectory. From the first controlled fire to the looming specter of artificial general intelligence, our journey may be less one of sober ascent and more a compulsive search for the next, more powerful alteration of our own condition.