Progress is not a popular concept these days. We have become sharply aware of the costs of change, particularly of the damage to our planet and to our traditional beliefs and values that occurs as modern society changes with dizzying velocity and seemingly unpredictable consequences.

The costs, damages, and dangers are very real. So is the inevitability of continued change, spurred on inexorably by earth’s still expanding population, and by the needs and wants of people. The dangers to our environment and our values are greater than need be because of our failure to define where we want change to lead us. We need a new definition of progress, a new exploration of human aspirations and goals, if we are ever going to control our headlong plunge into change.