Surviving Progress: Examining the Double-Edged Sword
Surviving Progress, the Movie
Directed by Mathieu Roy
Technological advancement, economic development, population increase – are these signs of a thriving society or we jeopardizing our very existence? Based on the best-selling book A Short History of Progress, this provocative documentary explores the “progress traps” facing our modern world. Jane Goodall, Margaret Atwood, Stephen Hawking and other visionaries share their insights in this enlightening, visually spectacular film.
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Synopsis
“Every time history repeats itself the price goes up.”
Surviving Progress presents the story of human advancement as awe-inspiring and double-edged. It reveals the grave risk of running the 21st century’s software — our know-how — on the ancient hardware of our primate brain which hasn’t been upgraded in 50,000 years. With rich imagery and immersive soundtrack, filmmakers Mathieu Roy and Harold Crooks launch us on journey to contemplate our evolution from cave-dwellers to space explorers.
Ronald Wright, whose best-seller, “A Short History Of Progress” inspired this film, reveals how civilizations are repeatedly destroyed by “progress traps” — alluring technologies serve immediate needs, but ransom the future. With intersecting stories from a Chinese car-driving club, a Wall Street insider who exposes an out-of-control, environmentally rapacious financial elite, and eco-cops defending a scorched Amazon, the film lays stark evidence before us. In the past, we could use up a region’s resources and move on. But if today’s global civilization collapses from over-consumption, that’s it. We have no back-up planet.
