Are we moving forward?

Last Thursday we discussed whether there was such a thing as progress in evolution. Are we moving forward as a species, or is it just change for the sake of change, as adaptation to our current situation and environment. How can we compare our ability to survive to humans who came before us? It is all situational. If there is no such thing as "forward evolution" then there is no proof that we are more advanced than our predecessor. This idea is representative of the problems that Darwin's ideas created for people associated with the Church, and with colonization during his time. If we are not more advanced, then there is no basis for the ideas behind colonization and the "salvation and settlement" of a people by a higher level of being, as were those behind the colonization of many British colonies.

This questioning of "forward evolution" brings me to the idea of "cultural evolution" and the changing of our way of life. Are our technological advancements representative of some sort of evolution within our culture or our trends of civilization? Can our ability to think and create material things, physical environments such as cities for example, somehow place us above other creatures or species? Is being able to think for ourselves even a good thing? There is no solid explanation, that makes sense to me at least, for our sense of a "soul" or consciousness, but I know that our ability to think and feel these things is real. Yet don't our conflicting beliefs and thoughts often lead to war and destruction? How can that be a sign of forward progression?