And it slips through our fingers

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man

As someone who is very much in favour of progress (although not necessarily always the way in which it is used), I find myself very much at odds with the approach of both Tolkien and his Elvish creations in this regard, since progress (the new replacing the old) seems very much a natural process to me. And yest here is another paradox. Although progress is a natural consequence of our development of intelligence, it can (and frequently does) put us at odds with nature.

I share your hesitation over the elven nostalgia, SpM. I have never really been an enthusiastic admirer of elves because their concept of art or perfection is this embalming.

However, I do question an assumption you make here. It is one thing to accept and welcome the replacing of the old by the new, but is this necessarily progress or is it simply replacement, change, difference?

Progress I thought entails some movement towards a future goal or cummulative improvement, forward or onward movement. (Unless of course it means a royal journey. )

I think you assume that the 'new' is better without logically arguing how or by what means.