Progress

The notion of progress through generations addresses the desire for a meaningful culmination to come from our existence, one that endures even after our death. While many characterize birth and death as a cycle, this idea of progress towards an elusive peak conceptualizes birth and death as linear, each event a significant contribution that furthers humankind’s journey to some achievement. Thus, as each person’s life, with its knowledge, wisdom, and action, gets incorporated into and built upon in the collective quest of humanity, time does not erase but rather immortalizes their existence. What happens now is only possible because of the actions and knowledge of our ancestors, and so in this way, their lives and meanings are kept alive.

But, what exactly is this goal we are all striving for? That is unknown. Many authors simply call it “understanding,” or, “making the world a better place.” Olaus J. Murie writes, “The whole universe, the whole creation, everything we see in the natural world around us, is based on progress toward something that we do not understand as yet...Again I want to congratulate you on the opportunity you have to lead a better life than all of us grownups have led and thus help us to move forward as human beings. That’s what we are here for, I am sure of that, although right now we have not reached the point where we can understand everything about life. We have to believe that there is some great good reason behind all of it, which we still do not understand.” More generally, Leonard Bernstein speaks of the particular connections that may hold us together: “The child can be made aware of the great, mysterious links that unite humanity, soul to soul and generation to generation – links forged through reproduction, through art, through human relationships, compassion, understanding, and historical fulfillment.” This is like the view of humanity as a tapestry or as a story told from generation to generation. This view holds that humankind is almost of one body, and that absolute death can never come to a person if their descendants or even other humans live on, contributing and furthering the same cause that gives each of our lives meaning.