A realistic critique of the new documentary film Surviving Progress: A dim view of humanity

By Lee Parsons
3 February 2012

You can read the entire post at the link above.

".......Pseudo-social science.

The thesis developed in Surviving Progress, adopted from Wright’s book, is a one-sided and morbid view of social development. The film will most appeal to those who already have a dim view of humanity, but this false impression is rooted in the decay of the present social order, which the filmmakers are keen to avoid examining as such, let alone in distinction to any other period.

“We are running 21st-century software on hardware that hadn’t been upgraded in 50,000 years” observes one commentator. This formulation is characteristic of the sort of pop-science adopted by the filmmakers in their assessment of human progress. This is not to deny that the documentary conveys certain valuable insight and criticism. It must be pointed out, however, that while some of those interviewed in the film rank among the greatest scientific minds of our time, this does not necessarily endow them with any special insight as social theorists.

For all its oppositional tone and hand-wringing, the outlook presented in Surviving Progress rejects the possibility of humanity effectively determining its own fate. One need not question the deeply felt sympathy for the oppressed, or strident criticism of the market expressed in the film, to argue that the outlook of Wright and company is retrograde, if not outright reactionary. After all, where does it point us?

On balance, we are invited to take part in a collective self-condemnation and even despair, while any deeper understanding of the historic crisis humanity now faces is said to be insoluble on the basis of further social development. Whatever the intention, this leaves quite specific social groups, i.e., the financial and corporate elite, off the hook. If the problem is everyone’s fault, then it is effectively no one’s.

One might legitimately pose the question: couldn’t the very intellectual capacity that allows Wright and company to make such a supposedly trenchant analysis be used to understand how to overcome these traps—and to organize society on a rational basis?"