The Myths We Don’t Call Myths: 2 Progress as Myth

If the opening post revealed the hidden architecture of myth in modern thought, this post examines one of its most pervasive and stabilising forms: the myth of progress.

Progress is often treated as a natural, linear, and inevitable unfolding — in science, technology, society, and even morality. We speak of progress as if it were a neutral measurement, but its function is deeply mythic. Progress shapes expectations, channels action, and legitimises authority. It provides a narrative scaffolding that makes change intelligible, coherent, and purposeful.

Consider scientific and technological development. Breakthroughs are celebrated not only for their instrumental impact, but because they fit a story: knowledge accumulates, understanding deepens, the future improves upon the past. This narrative simplifies contingency, ambiguity, and failure, presenting an intelligible trajectory. The myth of progress does not generate discoveries; it constrains which narratives of discovery are intelligible and valorised.

In social and political contexts, progress functions similarly. Reforms, revolutions, and policy initiatives are evaluated against an implicit trajectory: are they steps forward or backward? The myth of progress provides a framework for judging action, allocating attention, and legitimising leadership. It stabilises expectation, reducing the complexity of interpreting events by projecting an intelligible forward momentum.

Progress also shapes individual and collective imagination. It defines aspiration, valorises certain paths of endeavour, and constrains the space of intelligible ambition. Acts, innovations, and projects gain meaning in relation to the perceived forward march of society. Within this frame, some possibilities are rendered invisible or unintelligible simply because they do not fit the narrative of advancement.

Recognising progress as myth does not dismiss achievements or improvements; it reveals the structural work of the narrative. It is a constraint on intelligibility, not a causal force. Understanding this allows us to inhabit the framework with awareness: to appreciate benefits, navigate expectations, and exercise critical agency without mistaking the narrative for inevitability.

In the next post, we will explore necessity and rationality as mythic constructs, showing how these ostensibly objective concepts function analogously to progress, structuring thought, action, and authority while remaining largely invisible as myth.