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Progress studies

TagLast edit: May 13, 2022, 12:53 PM by Pablo

Progress studies is an intellectual movement focused on figuring out why progress happens and how to make it happen faster.[1]

The field examines the economic, technological, scientific, cultural, and organizational changes that have improved standards of living over human history, seeking to identify the individuals, cultures, and institutions responsible for this progress, and to apply this knowledge to the design of interventions aimed at further improving the human condition.

Further reading

Collison, Patrick & Tyler Cowen (2019) We need a new science of progress, The Atlantic, July 30.

Crawford, Jason (2019) Progress studies as a moral imperative, The Roots of Progress, September 7.

May, Daniel (2019) Progress studies reading list, Daniel May’s Blog, August.

Piper, Kelsey (2022) To make progress, we need to study it, Vox, February 11.

Whitaker, Nick (2021) The crux: collaboration, High Modernism, December 14.

External links

The Roots of Progress. A nonprofit organization about progress studies.

Progress Forum. An online discussion forum for the progress community in the style of the Effective Altruism Forum.

Related entries

communities adjacent to effective altruism | cultural evolution | differential progress | economic growth | history | scientific progress | The Roots of Progress | rationality community

  1. ^

    Piper, Kelsey (2022) To make progress, we need to study it, Vox, February 11.

Help me find the crux be­tween EA/​XR and Progress Studies

jasoncrawfordJun 2, 2021, 6:47 PM
119 points
37 comments3 min readEA link

Progress stud­ies vs. longter­mist EA: some differences

Max_DanielMay 31, 2021, 9:35 PM
84 points
27 comments3 min readEA link

Will faster eco­nomic growth make us hap­pier? The rele­vance of the Easter­lin Para­dox to Progress Studies

MichaelPlantJun 24, 2022, 12:29 PM
158 points
28 comments21 min readEA link
(www.happierlivesinstitute.org)

Progress Stud­ies Read­ing List

Luis Mota FreitasNov 2, 2022, 4:21 PM
18 points
1 comment2 min readEA link

En­light­en­ment Values in a Vuln­er­a­ble World

Maxwell TabarrokJul 18, 2022, 11:54 AM
66 points
18 comments31 min readEA link

Has Life Got­ten Bet­ter?

Holden KarnofskyOct 5, 2021, 8:31 AM
79 points
23 comments7 min readEA link

AMA: Ja­son Crawford, The Roots of Progress

jasoncrawfordDec 3, 2020, 4:49 PM
44 points
74 comments1 min readEA link

Does Eco­nomic Growth Mean­ingfully Im­prove Well-be­ing? An Op­ti­mistic Re-Anal­y­sis of Easter­lin’s Re­search: Founders Pledge

Vadim AlbinskySep 27, 2022, 4:28 PM
258 points
45 comments12 min readEA link

Con­cerns with the Wel­lbe­ing of Fu­ture Gen­er­a­tions Bill

LarksMar 9, 2022, 6:12 PM
126 points
37 comments21 min readEA link

Pa­trick Col­li­son on Effec­tive Altruism

SamuelKnocheJun 23, 2020, 9:04 AM
98 points
4 comments3 min readEA link

The case against degrowth

Stijn Bruers 🔸Dec 30, 2021, 6:05 PM
58 points
16 comments13 min readEA link

The 2nd De­mo­graphic Transition

Maxwell TabarrokApr 6, 2024, 2:11 PM
24 points
13 comments4 min readEA link
(www.maximum-progress.com)

How Eng­ineers can Con­tribute to Progress Studies

Jessica WenFeb 7, 2024, 8:45 PM
21 points
0 comments7 min readEA link

The world is much bet­ter. The world is awful. The world can be much bet­ter.

Max RoserAug 22, 2022, 2:33 PM
115 points
6 comments5 min readEA link

I went to the Progress Sum­mit. Here’s What I Learned.

Nick CorvinoDec 14, 2022, 10:41 PM
70 points
7 comments2 min readEA link

BBC Fu­ture longform ar­ti­cle on Progress Stud­ies (in­clud­ing con­nec­tion be­tween progress and risk)

GarrisonJun 16, 2022, 3:13 PM
65 points
0 comments1 min readEA link
(www.bbc.com)

Land Recla­ma­tion is in the 9th Cir­cle of Stag­na­tion Hell

Maxwell TabarrokJan 12, 2024, 1:37 PM
8 points
1 comment2 min readEA link
(maximumprogress.substack.com)

World Hap­piness Re­port 2022: Overview on Our Tenth Anniversary

Barry GrimesMar 21, 2022, 9:38 AM
27 points
0 comments6 min readEA link
(worldhappiness.report)

[Link] Progress Stud­ies (Jas­mine Wang)

Milan GriffesSep 10, 2019, 7:55 PM
20 points
2 comments1 min readEA link

Does Mo­ral Philos­o­phy Drive Mo­ral Progress?

AppliedDivinityStudiesJul 2, 2021, 9:22 PM
38 points
4 comments4 min readEA link

A Visit to the Idea Ma­chine Fair

Étienne Fortier-DuboisJun 3, 2022, 8:08 PM
38 points
4 comments11 min readEA link
(etiennefd.substack.com)

An­nounc­ing: Progress Stud­ies Read­ing Group

SamiMAug 30, 2020, 10:14 AM
12 points
0 comments1 min readEA link

What does moral progress con­sist of?

jasoncrawfordAug 19, 2022, 12:21 AM
23 points
6 comments2 min readEA link

On the Value of Ad­vanc­ing Progress

Toby_OrdJul 11, 2024, 11:20 AM
119 points
39 comments9 min readEA link

New Fo­cus Area: Abun­dance and Growth

Open PhilanthropyMar 11, 2025, 5:26 PM
70 points
33 comments1 min readEA link
(www.openphilanthropy.org)

Progress book recommendations

Daniel MayAug 8, 2019, 8:47 PM
73 points
7 comments16 min readEA link
(danielmamay.github.io)

Progress Stud­ies In Math: The Ne­olithic Revolution

Maxwell TabarrokMar 21, 2022, 7:27 PM
15 points
2 comments6 min readEA link

Sum­mary of his­tory (em­pow­er­ment and well-be­ing lens)

Holden KarnofskySep 28, 2021, 5:48 PM
62 points
11 comments11 min readEA link

Is Tech­nol­ogy Ac­tu­ally Mak­ing Things Bet­ter? – Pairagraph

Eevee🔹Oct 1, 2020, 4:06 PM
16 points
1 comment1 min readEA link
(www.pairagraph.com)

In­tro­duc­ing the Progress Stud­ies Fellowship

dominicsobhaniJul 6, 2023, 10:06 AM
21 points
1 comment1 min readEA link

How moral progress hap­pens: the de­cline of foot­bind­ing as a case study

rosehadsharJul 26, 2022, 9:18 AM
107 points
10 comments13 min readEA link

[Question] What are ex­am­ples of tech­nolo­gies which would be a big deal if they scaled but never ended up scal­ing?

LinchAug 27, 2021, 8:47 AM
36 points
17 comments1 min readEA link

Open Philan­thropy should fund the abun­dance agenda movement

ruthgraceAug 5, 2022, 5:27 AM
35 points
25 comments9 min readEA link

Beyond a bet­ter world

DavidmanheimDec 14, 2022, 10:21 AM
11 points
6 comments4 min readEA link
(progressforum.org)

How to Ac­cel­er­ate Tech­nolog­i­cal Progress—New Things Un­der the Sun

Eevee🔹Oct 3, 2021, 5:49 PM
13 points
0 comments8 min readEA link
(www.newthingsunderthesun.com)

In­tro­duc­ing Path­ways to Progress

dominicsobhaniJan 12, 2024, 8:06 AM
4 points
1 comment1 min readEA link

Join Path­ways to Progress’s Book Dis­cus­sion in December

lmessnerDec 1, 2024, 11:53 PM
6 points
0 comments1 min readEA link

In­ves­ti­gat­ing how tech­nol­ogy-fo­cused aca­demic fields be­come self-sustaining

Ben SnodinSep 6, 2021, 3:04 PM
43 points
4 comments42 min readEA link

[link post] A Vi­sion of Me­ta­science by Michael Niel­sen and Kan­jun Qie

joshcmorrisonOct 19, 2022, 2:03 AM
13 points
2 comments1 min readEA link
(scienceplusplus.org)

In­ter­pret­ing the Sys­temis­tas-Ran­domis­tas de­bate on de­vel­op­ment strategy

VenkateshMar 29, 2022, 4:53 PM
27 points
2 comments9 min readEA link

Mo­ral Foun­da­tions of Progress Stud­ies, March 4–6 at UT Austin

jasoncrawfordJan 28, 2022, 9:27 PM
4 points
0 comments1 min readEA link
(rootsofprogress.org)

The Wages of North-At­lantic Bias

Sach WryAug 19, 2022, 12:34 PM
8 points
2 comments17 min readEA link

There is no royal road to al­ign­ment

Eleni_ASep 17, 2022, 1:24 PM
18 points
2 comments3 min readEA link

We Are Not Gods: The Geo­graphic Cri­tique of Im­par­tial Progress

johnburidanJun 13, 2022, 9:44 PM
7 points
2 comments3 min readEA link
(progressforum.org)

2023 Fu­ture Perfect 50

Toby Tremlett🔹Nov 29, 2023, 3:12 PM
10 points
1 comment1 min readEA link
(www.vox.com)

Self-Sus­tain­ing Fields Liter­a­ture Re­view: Tech­nol­ogy Fore­cast­ing, How Aca­demic Fields Emerge, and the Science of Science

Megan KinnimentSep 6, 2021, 3:04 PM
27 points
0 comments6 min readEA link

How do poor coun­tries get rich: some the­o­ries

Nathan_BarnardJun 26, 2022, 10:00 AM
3 points
0 comments10 min readEA link

Me­ta­science/​Progress: Michael Niel­sen in­ter­view/​podcast

Ben YeohNov 16, 2022, 11:37 PM
10 points
2 comments3 min readEA link

Against the weird­ness heuris­tic

Eleni_AOct 5, 2022, 2:13 PM
5 points
0 comments2 min readEA link

Exegesis

rogersbacon1Dec 31, 2021, 5:51 PM
2 points
8 comments20 min readEA link
(rogersbacon.substack.com)

Is green growth or de­growth the best near-term fu­ture?

Goran HadenMay 15, 2022, 1:14 PM
8 points
10 comments3 min readEA link

Is Progress Real?

rogersbacon1Jan 10, 2023, 5:45 PM
7 points
0 comments14 min readEA link
(www.secretorum.life)

Progress and re­search dis­rup­tive­ness

Eleni_AJan 12, 2023, 3:45 AM
5 points
0 comments1 min readEA link
(www.nature.com)

Space coloniza­tion and the closed ma­te­rial economy

Arturo MaciasFeb 2, 2023, 3:37 PM
2 points
0 comments2 min readEA link

O mundo é hor­rível. O mundo está muito melhor. O mundo pode ser muito melhor.

AE Brasil / EA BrazilJul 19, 2023, 7:37 PM
5 points
0 comments4 min readEA link

What is Progress and Why I think so­cial sci­ence is the key to the fu­ture.

Anthony FuJun 6, 2023, 8:51 AM
3 points
1 comment1 min readEA link
(anthonyfu.wixsite.com)

if you’re read­ing this it’s too late (a new the­ory on what is caus­ing the Great Stag­na­tion)

rogersbacon1Jun 8, 2023, 11:54 AM
−2 points
0 comments13 min readEA link
(www.secretorum.life)

Ro­mae Industriae

Maxwell TabarrokJul 19, 2024, 1:04 PM
4 points
1 comment7 min readEA link
(www.maximum-progress.com)

Join Path­ways to Progress’s Book Dis­cus­sion in September

lmessnerSep 4, 2024, 5:53 PM
5 points
0 comments1 min readEA link

Join Path­ways to Progress’s New Book Dis­cus­sion Series

lmessnerJul 5, 2024, 9:12 PM
10 points
0 comments1 min readEA link

Progress in Qualia

niplavMay 3, 2024, 10:03 AM
15 points
1 comment5 min readEA link

Join Path­ways to Progress’s Book Dis­cus­sion in October

lmessnerSep 29, 2024, 12:54 PM
4 points
0 comments1 min readEA link

There’s always a first

Ariel_ZJMar 21, 2025, 12:25 PM
2 points
0 comments2 min readEA link
(preservinghope.substack.com)

Join Path­ways to Progress’s Book Dis­cus­sion in November

lmessnerOct 26, 2024, 5:40 PM
6 points
0 comments1 min readEA link

#211 – Why hous­ing still isn’t fixed and what would ac­tu­ally work (Sam Bow­man on The 80,000 Hours Pod­cast)

80000_HoursDec 20, 2024, 3:44 PM
12 points
8 comments25 min readEA link

Join Path­ways to Progress’s Book Dis­cus­sion in February

lmessnerJan 30, 2025, 7:56 AM
4 points
0 comments1 min readEA link
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