One of the key tenets of Modernism (as descended from The Enlightenment) is that we, homo sapiens, as a species, are on a path of continuous upward progress. This progress is propelled upward by an increasing reliance on rationalism and a corresponding elevation of science as the source of answers to our questions and problems.
Calvin & Hobbes take this on in a great little strip that tells us why, despite Modernism's insistence that progress is inexorable and inevitable, it never really seems like we make any progress as a species except in creating more inventive ways to kill each other. Hobbes' quote is classic:
"The problem with the future is that it keeps turning into the present."
And the present... always has US in it, more's the pity.
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