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WHIG_OUT

                                             September 30, 2019

Most of us would like to believe in a story about
human progress, we'd like to assume that there's been
some improvement throughout history-- and I think it's
demonstrable that there has been.

But you can't really ever assume gradual, steady
progress-- there have been many wrong turns
and retreats, and many times when the curve of
progress seems to have flattened out for long
periods of time...

The idea that our present state is an englightened
improvement over the dark days of the past can't
ever be taken for granted-- after all, a number of     Though in general the
those "wrong turns" initially claimed to be the        story of progress is
next big advance.                                      probably a better bet
                                                       than the tale of decline.

    This kind of thing is sometimes
    called "the Whig theory of history".

    A close relative of the "just so"
    stories of evolutionary theory.




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