Definitions of "progress"

Don't ask me where the after-dinner cynicism came from, because it arrived on the heels of laughter remembering the British sitcom Coupling, specifically the (highly NSFW!) scene in "Inferno," where Steve re-writes (male) human progress as the quest to see the other 49% of the species naked.

Perhaps I lack the gender solidarity with Steve, but it occurred to me that the driving force may well be mere tedium. Routine--however comforting at times--stifles the soul...as do policy and prodedure and whatever metrics we choose to chase and/or game. So, to eke out a bit more time for what is more interesting or soul-satisfying, we find hidden shortcuts. We pick locks. We tunnel under walls.

But typically we don't manage to keep the secret to ourselves. And then the shortcuts become standards, locks are changed, and walls be come tunnels...straight back to the same quota of tedium. And so the subversion of the status quo begins anew. As narratives for "progress" go, it's not the worst, but it's certainly not the most inspiring I can think of.