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Why does the idea of progress loom so large in the modern world? Surely because progress of particular kind is actually taking place around us and is more and more manifesting. __1__ Although mankind has undergone no general improvement in intelligence or morality, it has made extraordinary progress in the accumulation of knowledge. Knowledge begins to increase as soon __2__ as the thoughts of one individual could be communicated to another by mean of speech. With the invention __3__of writing, knowledge could be communicated and stored. Libraries made education possible, and education in turn added libraries: the growth of knowledge __4__ followed a kind of compound-interest law, which was greatly enhanced by the invention of printing. All this was comparatively slow until, with the coming of science, the tempo was suddenly risen. __5__ Then knowledge began to be accumulated according to a systematic plan. However, as soon as new knowledge is acquired, __6__ it is now turned to practical account. What is called “modern civilization”is not the result of a balanced development of all man’s nature,but not of accumulated knowledge applied to practical __7__ life. The problem now facing humanity is: What is going to be done with all this knowledge? Like is often pointed out, knowledge is a two edged __8__ weapon which could be used equally for good or evil. It is now being __9__ frequently used indifferently for both. Could any spectacle, for instance, be more grimly whimsical than that gunners using science to shatter __10__ men’s bodies while, close at hand, surgeons use it to restore them.
