On the surface, the question whether we are progressing seems silly. Progress is so much in the air that to doubt its reality appears a kind of blindness or a deliberate closing of one’s eyes to facts. Of course, we are progressing and all our progress is due to the advances of science. Science has revolutionized human life and has worked wonders. The marvels of science are breathtaking. The last 150 years or so have witnessed changes and developments in the art of living that would seem incredible to a man of the 1 7th or 18th century. Mankind has made an amazing progress in almost every walk of life.
Medicine and surgery have made enormous strides Science has found the answer to almost every disease. Inoculations, injections, antibiotic drugs, anesthetics which have made surgical operations painless, provision of artificial limbs, the discovery of X-ray. The application of atomic energy to the treatment of tumors and of cancer, the use of radioactive isotopes in the treatment of scores of diseases -- these are only some of the numerous miracles of; science. Science has, in other words contributed enormously to the relief of human sufferings. Scientific measures have resulted in aft reduction of infant mortality, in healthy and disease-free living, and in the longevity of life.
The use of scientific methods and scientific machinery has I greatly increased the yield from the soil and has also increased the production of goods and commodities which have becomes necessities of life. Both agriculture and industrial production have risen enormously. Famines and scarcities are becoming rare. The standard of living has gone up. Life has become not only comfortable, but luxurious also. Electricity has made life really worth living. Manual labor which used to tire and bore has given way to machinery. Scores of electric household appliance have introduced every sort of comfort in life. The means of transport and communications have been quickened beyond expectation. One card fly from Pakistan to Britain less than twelve hours, and from Britain ‘to the U.S.A. in less than six hours.
Education is no longer confined to a select minority. Educational schemes and programd have led to mass literacy even in countries which are still backward technologically. The number of hooks and newspapers has been rising fast in the world. The reading habit has become common. People have begun to think for themselves and to form their own independent judgments. Ignorance end superstitions have been driven away. The dissemination of knowledge on a vast scale is a striking feature of our times. Religion s no longer the bone of contention or the cause of international vars.
The success of space flights marks the progress of mankind n yet another field. The moon and the other planets of the solar system are no longer a baffling mystery. They are yielding their to the incessant scrutiny of man. The conquest of the forces Nature is going apace. Scores of man-made satellites are circling earth and collecting valuable data. The manned flights around earth are an important step towards the conquest of space.
Politically, most of the countries of the world have become independent and those which are still under the domination of others did fair to become free at an early date. The right of every country to over itself has been finally recognized. Not only that the more prosperous nations have realized their duty to render aid and help of 11 kinds to the backward nations. The U.N.O. and its specialized genies have already done a lot for the backward countries. The 1evelopment decade of the U.N.O. has substantial targets to reach and will result in an enormous uplift of the wretched people of underdeveloped nations.
In view of these achievements in various spheres of life the ‘progress of mankind cannot be doubted. We have certainly progressed a great deal, and we are still progressing. Man’s mind ions no limits and no boundaries. Man’s curiosity is insatiable and is craving for perfection irrepressible. And yet there is a dark side human achievement. The progress mankind has made is tainted man’s shortcomings and man’s perversity. If the divine element man is leading him to progress, there is also in him the devilish or demoniac element which pulls him backward. If religious intolerance has largely been eliminated from the world, political intolerance has taken its place and threatens to be a cause of greater disruption and destruction than religious intolerance ever was. The world is today divided into two camps -- communism and democracy -- and the two are at loggerheads with each other.
Mankind has made technological and material progress on a scale difficult to measure. But mankind has lost some of the most precious values of life. The principle of brotherhood of man seems to have no longer any meaning. Men are today the salves of certain political slogans and catchwords. Apart from political fanaticism under the aegis of communism, another stigma on the name of mankind is racial hatred, especially in South Africa and the U.S.A. Nor does mankind have any spiritual values any more. Science has given a heavy blow to religious and spiritual beliefs, so that man finds himself today in a kind of wilderness, without any anchor or support. Morally too, the world is plunged into anarchy. Sexual morality, particularly, is at low ebb. Sentiment and feeling have - also dried up in the heats of men. Selfishness and callousness are the order of the day.