A Short History Of Progress Rhetorical Analysis

Within Ronald Wright’s novel, A Short History of Progress, the concept of a “progress trap” is explored. Described by Wright, a “progress trap” is a situation in which humans establish a dependence upon new technology or techniques that have been integrated into societal structures to help “improve” human living conditions. This newly developed technology or knowledge can become paramount in society and critical to the survival of the transformed civilization. At this point, a loop of “progress trap” development can begin to occur.
Trapped by the consequences of their own development, humans will desperately look for new ways to counteract factors which stand in the way of either further development, or the viability of the altered society. An example of a factor that would lead to this situation would be full utilization of a resource that was not exploited previously by humans, such as what is being seen in modern oil and gas extraction. As a result, society will try to develop a new technological “saving grace” to ensure the survival of constantly progressing society.
Agriculture is described as a “progress trap” because agronomic advances have lessened the human reliance on the provisions of the natural environment, and to instead …show more content…
The concept of geoengineering proposes that earth’s natural systems are no longer effective by human standards, and thus, should be altered to accommodate for our needs. From an environmental point of view, this is out of the question. An environmentalist’s mindset is one of unity with nature and cooperation with the natural ecology of the world. Geoengineering, although it may combat issues caused by industry, completely disregards the collaboration and harmony with nature that we once held millennia ago. In this way, geoengineering avoids the cause of our species’ environmental dilemma altogether, and thus, is not a truly viable