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The Myth of Progress

The idea of progress is so ingrained in us high achievers and committed activists that you may be surprised by the word myth. Or perhaps you just ignored it. So many of us are motivated to do our best as leaders and good people because we assume that human societies and our species are on an upward evolutionary path, always improving. What would motivate our long hours of dedicated work and our deep longing to create positive change if it isn’t true, as Martin Luther King said, quoting others before him: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”2

Yet the idea of progress is a very recent addition ...

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