Early Greek sources talk about a Golden Age of peaceful, pastoral abundance, followed by a Silver Age, when jewels and luxuries made life more opulent but also more complicated. There followed a Bronze Age, when weapons and guards appeared, and also the hierarchy of have and have-nots, and finally an Iron Age of blood and war and Troy
Does this suggest that history can be viewed as an zero-sum game; when certain progress is made, compensations are also created?
but if we study only the keystones, and not the other less conspicuous bricks, we wind up with a very distorted idea of the whole edifice.
Now we recognized...:)
In other words, this approach presumes a teleology to history, that human societies have always been developing toward some pre-set end state: apple seeds into apple trees, humans into enlightened humans, human societies into liberal democratic paradises.
Aren't whig historians travestying the ideas of enlightenment thinkers?
It also has humanity as the agent of that change, primarily through technological innovation and social changes which arise in reaction to said innovation. It does not have (A) intentionality behind this change, (B) a positive arc to this change, (C) an infinite or unlimited arc to this change, or–perhaps most critically–(D) the expectation that any more change will occur in the future.
This seems to capture much of the classes' sentiments regarding the nature of progress—you're like Lucretius 2.0
If we work together — said he — if we observe the world around us, study, share our findings, collaborate, uncover as a human team the secret causes of things hidden in nature, we can base new inventions on our new knowledge which will, in small ways, little by little, make human life just a little easier, just a little better, warm us in winter, shield us in storm, make our crops fail a little less, give us some way to heal the child on his bed.
Let's Go. 
they do not live in our world where bread is already poptarts, and will be something even more outlandish in the next generation.
Let me unpack that.
The importance of "progress" as an invention is key to understanding how we all think about progress, particularly given your responses via Grokspot this AM.
