The Grammar of Progress

Philosophics — Philosophical and Political Ramblings · Jun 1, 2026 · 19m

Language philosopher Bry Willis argues that the concept of progress is not an objective reality but a subjective narrative defined by those who reach a specific destination. He characterises civilisational advancement as a one-way diode, where the transition to new technologies or social structures involves the irreversible dismantling of prior knowledge and alternative ways of being. Willis suggests that modern accounting of growth is structurally biased, as it fails to record the "epistemic losses" of things like language, ecological wisdom, and cognitive independence. He specifically…