#192 - The Paradox of Progress

““Without education, we are in a horrible and deadly danger of taking educated people seriously.”

― G.K. Chesterton

The Paradox of Progress: The Living Room vs. The Laboratory 

The modern man, in his feverish zeal for novelty, has made a most curious error: he has mistaken the living room for the laboratory. He holds that because a motorcar should be redesigned annually, the marriage vows should be equally as fluid. This is the central paradox of our age: the belief that all change is equally virtuous, and that “innovation” is a magic word that justifies the perpetual shattering of things both mechanical and moral. We must, with a hearty dose of common sense, establish a necessary distinction between the technology of a nation that must be allowed to innovate, and the morality that must, if the nation is to survive, stand perfectly still.

Innovation in science, technology, and industry is the natural function of an energetic, productive people. We build ever-faster vehicles, for the simple reason that if one is to move, it may as well move well. The key to technological progress is that change is cumulative: the steam engine improved the wheel, and the microchip improved the steam engine. Here, speed is a virtue, for here we deal with means not ends— tools designed to overcome material obstacles in our world. 

But when this same fever of disruption turns to culture and social morals, it becomes suicidal. Culture is not the means, but the end. It is the frame of the portrait, not the pigment used to paint it. A nation that constantly changes its traditions is like a man who, having finally built his house, immediately starts removing the foundation in favor of a newer, more stylish hole in the ground. The loftiest ideals of a nation are rooted in what it refuses to change: its identity is consistency in practice over time. If we tear down the cultural artifices of our nation—the stable institutions and handed-down traditions—we have not innovated, but merely sawn off the branch upon which we sit. See, culture is cumulative too. But innovation in the cultural space is not actual innovation, but immolation of the past, an unmooring from the deep foundations. 

The revolutionaries of the cultural market preach that all traditions are dead weight. They imagine that a society can be built upon mere individual expression, floating happily in a social void. But a society that lacks a shared story is merely a crowd, and a crowd is easily turned into a mob. The only way to counter the dizzying fragmentation of modern life is by a return to the very pillars we have been encouraged to abandon.

We need, first off, a robust recovery of traditional Christian values. These values are not a quaint relic of the past; they are the ancient, hard-won instructions for how human beings may best exist in a shared space. They furnish the vertical relationship with transcendence, which alone prevents men from collapsing into horizontal squabbles over fleeting, earthly trifles. 

 Second, we must defend the all-important freedom of expression and debate. If a culture is strong, it can survive, even enjoy, the most vigorous debate about its virtues, whereas a weak, frightened, or newly-minted ideology must always resort to stamping out the counterargument (Critical Theory anyone?). The noise of debate is the sound of a free, healthy culture—let us welcome the noise. As Augustine once said, Truth is like a lion, just let it loose.

Finally, we must recognize that the most vital cultural institution is the family. The family is the smallest democracy and the oldest anarchy, yet it is where tradition is passed on, not by law or lecture, but by the rhythm of custom. It is the unbreakable unit of continuity. If we lose the family, we have lost the nation, regardless of how fast our processors run or how many new rockets we send to space.

The scientist must invent the future; it is their high and necessary calling. But let the rest of us, with an unbroken determination, conserve the past. For we do not defend old things because they are old, but because they are wise. A nation that knows where it is going must first know where it is—and where it came from. The task is not to halt technological progress, but to shore up the cultural foundations so that we may go ever higher as a nation and as a people. Failure to do so will result in a Roman style decline of moral decay, monetary debasement, and cultural decline. One can only hope we are not too late. 

Investor’s Corner

Russell Napier, "Money Creation in Peace and  War". - Link 

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Technology Corner

Google TPU’s are headed to SPACE - Link

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Google Cloud's CTO on their agentic AI plans | TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 - Link

Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz on the State of AI - Link

Gemini continues to gain market share, now at 13.7% up from 12.9% a month ago and this is even before we got Gemini 3.0. (which will come out before end of year). - Link

A 26-year-old PwC data scientist who built AI agents for Fortune 500 clients won first place in a companywide AI hackathon in October, presenting to 70,000 employees. Two hours later, PwC laid him off. - Link

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Politics, Philosophy, Theology Corner

3 Things Christians Must Do to Rebuild Culture (Touchstone talk) | Jonathan Pageau - Link

Microschooling - a new trend with old roots - Link

What Happens When Social Trust Collapses? | Peter Atwater - Link