In short, the POSSIBILITY of
Progress is guaranteed by the high probability, based on astro-
physical science, of an immense time to progress in.
It may surprise many to be told that the notion of Progress, which
now seems so easy to apprehend, is of comparatively recent origin.
It has indeed been claimed that various thinkers, both ancient (for
instance, Seneca) and medieval (for instance, Friar Bacon), had long
ago conceived it. But sporadic observations--such as man's gradual
rise from primitive and savage conditions to a certain level of
civilisation by a series of inventions, or the possibility of some
future additions to his knowledge of nature--which were inevitable
at a certain stage of human reflection, do not amount to an
anticipation of the idea. The value of such observations was
determined, and must be estimated, by the whole context of ideas in
which they occurred. It is from its bearings on the future that
Progress derives its value, its interest, and its power. You may
conceive civilisation as having gradually advanced in the past, but
you have not got the idea of Progress until you go on to conceive
that it is destined to advance indefinitely in the future.
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