Progress Versus Improvement

The Smart Set considers the phrase ‘State-of-the-Art’ and asks why some things receive so much praise just for being new? Progress, it says, is something distinct from improvement. “‘State of the art’ allows us to continue mistaking top-down progress for improvement. If you think your life and your world isn’t perfect and could stand some improvement, that’s an important distinction. And if you think they are perfect, well, you should take a drive up to Plymouth State and try the ice rink. ‘It’s state-of-the-art technology,’ Bruce Lyndes, Plymouth State’s media relations manager told The Citizen of Laconia, ‘and state-of-the-art fun.'”