In
Inherit the Wind,
Henry Drummond makes a very important
point. Progress is in the
sacrifices. You
buy a
phone so you can talk to people over great distances, but you
sacrifice some
privacy. You
create a wonderful new, amazing, and
popular device, but you
sacrifice the
electricity needed to
power all those new machines. When you seek
truth, you
sacrifice faith.
This lead me to figure out that in the
long term, the sacrifices are repaid a
thousand fold. The progress made can lead to other progress, progress that replaces the current progress, and therefor also having a
different sacrifice. Perhaps one of less
consequence. Sacrifices can eliminate other sacrifices, but progress always adds to or replaces other progress.
"Reasonable men adapt themselves to their environment; unreasonable men try to adapt their environment to themselves. Thus all progress is the result of the efforts of unreasonable men." --
George Bernard Shaw
Which leads one to wonder. Ignorance isn't bliss; you are sacrificing bliss for ignorance and ignorance for bliss.