Is progress always a good thing?

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Very well written, but misses the point somewhat. The second paragraph talks about the value of hard work and the third paragraph shows how success can lead to complacence.

No, I do not agree with the notion that progress is always a good thing. There is no doubt that progress is something everyone wants but this doesn't necessarily mean that it is always good. In my opinion progress can do as much harm as it can do good. It all depends on the way someone takes his progress.

For instance, if a hard working person, who has been no stranger to struggle and failure, achieves progress, he understands that the progress he got is due to his perseverance. He realized the fact that progress can be made by working hard. So he will be encouraged to work even harder and make even more progress. In this case, progress has made a good impact on the person's life.

Now let's visualize another case. Suppose another man, who is not hard working and has had everything easy in his life also achieves progress. This is rather unlikely but we cannot rule out the possibility. Now this progress can have adverse effect on his mentality. Because he hasn't worked hard for it he might take his success for granted. This might lead to negligence in his work and this will eventually lead to his failure in more demanding work. When the failure does come the man may realize his mistake, but by then it might have become too late. So, this man has been spoilt by his initial progress.

Now these are only two examples and there are many more people with different attitudes towards life and hence will be affected differently by progress. So, owning to the number of people on this planet it is not hard to realize that progress is not always a good thing.