The history of the development of technique, like the history of geographical expansion, has failed to provide us with a criterion of the growth of civilizations, but it does reveal a principle by which technical progress is governed, which may be described as a law of progressive simplification. The ponderous and bulky steam-engine with its elaborate ‘permanent way’ is replaced by the neat and handy internal-combustion engine which can take to the roads with the speed of a railway train and almost all the freedom of action of a pedestrian. Telegraphy with wires is replaced by telegraphy without wires. The incredibly complicated scripts of the Sinic and Egyptiac societies are replaced by the neat and handy Latin Alphabet.
Toynbee distinguishes technical progress from the broader growth of a civilisation. Greater technical capability, in his view, does not by itself prove that a society is becoming more successful or creative. However, he argues that the history of technology reveals a recurring tendency towards what he calls “progressive simplification”: later solutions often perform comparable or greater functions with less bulk, dependence or complexity.
His examples range from transport and communication to writing systems. The internal-combustion engine offers greater freedom of movement than the railway steam-engine, wireless communication removes the need for physical wires, and alphabetic writing reduces the number of symbols required for written language. Toynbee therefore presents simplification as a form of technical advancement in which capability is preserved or expanded while the means become more economical and flexible. At the same time, he cautions against treating technical improvement as a sufficient measure of civilisational progress.
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Arnold J. Toynbee
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