Enlightenment as the Birth of Progress

Only in the 18th century Enlightenment did the concept of progress become widespread. Earlier, most people thought of history in terms of a fall from a past Golden Age, or perhaps repeating cycles. (If they thought of such things at all. Mostly they just worried about their next meals.)

With the Industrial Revolution, progress became almost synonymous with science and technology. By the late 19th and early 20th century, we see the beginnings of modern science fiction (Verne, Wells), and prototypes of today's hackers and geeks (Edison, Tesla, Tom Swift). Tellingly, we also see early instances of techno-optimistic wishful thinking: the telegraph, dynamite, and airplanes (and later, movies and television) were all heralded, sometimes even by their inventors, as tools that would end war. The First World War was a huge setback for all optimists, but the techno-optimistic spirit soon recovered.