My mission

A new philosophy and culture of progress for the 21st century

I want more people to have a bold, ambitious vision for the future—a future we want to live in and are inspired to build.A future where we cure all disease, and even aging itself. Where supersonic planes help us to travel the world, and robotaxis help us get around town. Where AI helps to educate and enrich us, to make better choices and seize more opportunities. Where we generate an abundance of cheap, reliable, clean energy to power our economy and our lives. Where people live longer, healthier, happier lives full of meaning, choice, and opportunity.Too many people today, especially young people, believe that humanity is doomed—because of anything from climate change cooking the Earth to robots taking all our jobs or even taking over the world. But I believe that whatever problems lie ahead, we can solve them.I believe this because I know how many problems we’ve solved in the past. I know that not long ago, most workers had to toil on farms just to produce barely enough food to feed everyone, and famine was still common—but today many fewer workers produce an abundance of food. I know that not long ago, people lived in small, dingy homes with few rooms, no electricity, no running water or toilets, no central heating or air conditioning, and no appliances to lighten the load—but today we live in ease and comfort. I know that not long ago, half of all children died before reaching adulthood, mostly from infectious disease such as smallpox or cholera—but today, child death has gone from a common misfortunte to a rare tragedy. I know that compared to just a few hundred years ago, many more people now learn to read and write and get a basic education; many more people live under a democracy; and many more have the protection of fundamental human rights.My work is to write and speak about the history and philosophy of progress. The questions that animate me are: How did we build the amazing modern world? Why did it take so long, in historical terms? And can we keep progress going? Since 2017, I’ve been writing about these topics on my blog, *The Roots of Progress.* And recently I completed an essay series laying out my philosophy of progress, *The Techno-Humanist Manifesto.* I also founded the Roots of Progress Institute, which runs an annual Progress Conference, a fellowship for progress writers, and this Progress in Medicine student summer program.

My path

From tech founder to writer and not-for-profit leader

Writing about progress was a side project that took over my life.I used to work in tech. My degree is in computer science, and in my 20s and 30s I was a software engineer, engineering manager, product manager, and tech startup founder. I co-founded two startups, joined a few others, and also worked for larger companies like Amazon.Along the way I got fascinated with the history and the idea of progress. Around 2016, I started to feel that the modern world was an amazing gift that we take for granted, and that how we got here was the most important story in the world. At first I just read books about it. Then I started writing a little blog with short notes. Over the next few years, the notes got longer and the audience got bigger. In 2019 I had my first breakout viral hit: “Why Did We Wait So Long for the Bicycle?”By the time I left my last tech job, I had become obsessed with progress. At age 40, instead of getting another job in the tech industry or founding another startup, I made a mid-life career shift to write and speak about progress full-time. By 2022, I had enough support to start a nonprofit to build the progress movement—and soon, the Roots of Progress Institute was born.Every step of that journey, over almost a decade, grew organically out of what came before. I didn’t plan it out like a roadmap or blueprint from the start, but I seized opportunities when I saw them and followed my fascinations. I’m pretty happy with how it’s turned out.