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Why does the idea of progress loom so large in the modern world? Surely because progress of particu-lar kind is actually taking place around us and is more and more manifesting. Although mankind has underg- __1
one no general improvement in intelligence or morality, it has made extraordinary progress in the accumu-lation of knowledge. Knowledge begins to increase as __2
soon as the thoughts of one individual could be com-municated to another by mean of speech. With the in- __3
vention of writing, knowledge could be communicated and stored. Libraries made education possible, and education in turn added libraries: the growth of knowl- __4
edge followed a kind of compound-interest law,which was greatly enhanced by the invention of printing. All this was comparatively slow until, with the coming of science, the tempo was suddenly risen. __5
then knowledge began to be accumulated according to a systematic plan. However, as soon as new knowl- __6
edge is acquired, it is now turned to practical account. What is called “modern civilization” is not the result of a balanced development of all man’s nature,but not of accumulated knowledge applied to practical __7
life. The problem now facing humanity is: what is going to be done with all this knowledge? Like is often __8
pointed out, knowledge is a two edged weapon which could be used equally for good or evil. It is now being __9
used indifferently for both. Could any spectacle, for instance, be more grimly whimsical than that gunners __10
using science to shatter men’s bodies while, close at hand, surgeons use it to restore them.
