define progress...(technology)?

Answer 1

I see it as any moves towards equality which is beneficial for all the world's people. All technology is not progress, and progress does not have to be technology.

Answer 2

From a social point of view, it's an illusion we have as time goes by and things get different. They only get different but do not necesseraly improve human life. Take a look at all the technology we have in contrast to the massive poverty of the world. This wolrd already has enough resources to stop starvation, for example. But this progress has an end itself and not in human life. So this is not progress, is it? So, progress can be achieved everytime we really do something important, able to reduce mankind's suffering. Unfortunately, mass media, demagocial governments and capitalist ideology tend to make people believe they live in a progressive society. Ok, there are many different machines around, but are they being built to give men more time to live a happier life?
See for example the use cell phones. Companies are producing cameras, mp3 players because the primary rational use of a mobile has already been over-explored by the market. So, the new tendencies of cell phone use are only following a nonstop rithm of the industrial society, and nothing else. Technology improves as a function of the capitalist greed, which creates new demands.
We must not forget the benefits it caused in medicine but the unsane rithm has been causing terrible effects in pharmaceutical industry, for instance. More and more medicines are being made upon the new invented demands. In a world that requires you to fit a standard, it is not hard to get sick and desire an imediate cure. A medication plays an important role when you think your body is ridiculous in comparison to others. But the essential problem is not solved when you create a medicine instead of killing the source that made your body a problem.
I'll stop by now, otherwise this will introduce a new discussion.