An expanded model adding two crucial dimensions to the basic framework. Axis 1: Material-Moral (stuff vs. ethics). Axis 2: Individual-Collective (me vs. us). Axis 3: Linear-Cyclical (steady advancement vs. wave-like progress that comes and goes). Axis 4: Absolute-Relative (progress against fixed standards vs. progress compared to others). These four axes create sixteen progress-types. The 20th century saw dramatic material progress (absolute) that was unevenly distributed (relative failure), with moral progress that was real but cyclical (rights advanced, then backslid). The 4 Axes reveal that progress debates often talk past each other because they're on different axes entirely.
The 4 Axes of the Progress Spectrum "You say we're making progress because technology advances. I say we're not because inequality grows. The 4 Axes show: you're on material, absolute, linear. I'm on material, relative, also linear. Same axis family, different positions. We're both right—and both wrong about the whole picture."
by Dumu The Void February 25, 2026
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