Progress Debate
November 6, 2015
Be it resolved, humankind’s best days lie ahead…
Progress. It is one of the animating concepts of the modern era. From the Enlightenment onwards, the West has had an enduring belief that through the evolution of institutions, innovations and ideas, the human condition is improving. This process is supposedly accelerating as new technologies, individual freedoms and the spread of global norms empowers individuals and societies around the world. But is progress inevitable?
Its critics argue that human civilization has become different, not better, over the last two and a half centuries. What is seen as breakthrough or innovation in one period becomes a setback or limitation in another. In short, progress is an ideology not a fact; a way of thinking about the world as opposed to a description of reality.
Results
Pre-debate
Post-debate
Swing: 2% (Pro team win)
You may also like
June 23, 2026
– Listen
Munk Dialogue with Andrew Coyne: Trump loses his bargaining power and has Mark Carney’s “elbows up” promise delivered?
August 28, 2026
– Listen
Munk Dialogue with Andrew Coyne: Is Canada prepared for the long fight?
August 7, 2026
– Listen
Munk Dialogue with Andrew Coyne: Carney considers concessions to Trump as U.S. Power wanes abroad
August 14, 2026
– Listen
Munk Dialogue with Andrew Coyne: the Canada-US trade deadline looms and Iran calls Trump’s bluff
July 17, 2026
– Listen
Munk Dialogue with Andrew Coyne: Trump undermines his own party and the crisis of Canadian conservatism
June 9, 2026
– Listen
Munk Dialogue with Andrew Coyne: are we in a recession – or a growth trap?
July 3, 2026
– Listen
Munk Dialogue with Andrew Coyne: the American experiment at 250 and Canada’s pipeline gamble
July 24, 2026
– Listen
Munk Dialogue with Andrew Coyne: Trump doubles down on the Iran war and tariffs, and an AI model escapes the lab
August 25, 2026
– Listen
Special Munk Dialogue with Andrew Coyne: Carney walks away from Trump and turns his Davos speech into action
July 10, 2026
– Listen
Munk Dialogue with Andrew Coyne: the Iran-U.S. ceasefire unravels and Alberta pulls ahead while Ontario and Quebec fall behind
August 21, 2026
– Listen
Munk Dialogue with Andrew Coyne: how far is Carney willing to bend for Trump?
July 31, 2026
