Surviving Progress (2011)

"Surviving Progress" is a profound exploration of humanity's journey, measured not in steps forward but in spirals downward, potentially towards our own demise. Our advancements since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, while deemed progress, may be the very traps that threaten our long-term survival and the planet's stability. This perilous journey is navigated by a species that possesses a unique ability: to question "why". Yet, this gift also brings with it unintended ominous consequences such as overpopulation, climate change, and resource depletion. The film, inspired by Ronald Wright's best-seller "A Short History Of Progress", paints a vivid picture of the "progress traps" that have brought past civilizations to their knees. These traps, disguised as enticing technologies and belief systems, serve immediate needs but mortgage our future. However, these dangerous progressions are often chosen over sustainable alternatives due to our innate desire for immediate gratification and our instinctive fight or flight response for short-term survival. As we stand on the precipice of progress and catastrophe, the affluent, who bear a larger individual ecological footprint than the poor, continue to emerge from poverty. This escalation puts even more pressure on the world's finite resources and pushes nations towards bankruptcy. The question that looms is: can our globally intertwined civilization dodge the catastrophic progress trap that looms ahead? "Surviving Progress" is both a stark requiem to progress-as-usual and a challenge to humanity. As we delve into the insights from thinkers who have delved into our genes, our brains, and our social behavior, we are left to grapple with a disturbing notion: is making apes smarter an evolutionary dead-end? There's an urgent call for a fundamental shift in moral systems for our species' survival. This film beckons us to answer that call or risk being the architects of our own downfall.

Surviving Progress is a documentary movie featuring Stephen Hawking and directed by Harold Crooks.

Surviving Progress is currently streaming for free (ad-supported) on Kanopy and it's also available on OVID.