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But in order to judge that we are
moving in a desirable direction we should have to know precisely
what the destination is. To the minds of most people the desirable
outcome of human development would be a condition of society in
which all the inhabitants of the planet would enjoy a perfectly
happy existence. But it is impossible to be sure that civilisation
is moving in the right direction to realise this aim. Certain
features of our "progress" may be urged as presumptions in its
favour, but there are always offsets, and it has always been easy to
make out a case that, from the point of view of increasing
happiness, the tendencies of our progressive civilisation are far
from desirable. In short, it cannot be proved that the unknown
destination towards which man is advancing is desirable. The
movement may be Progress, or it may be in an undesirable direction
and therefore not Progress. This is a question of fact, and one
which is at present as insoluble as the question of personal
immortality. It is a problem which bears on the mystery of life.


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