Moving people up Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Technology enables that.

my grandparents spent 8 hours sowing and reaped 100g of rice

yesterday I spent 8 hours sowing and reaped 200g of rice

today I spent 8 hours sowing and I will reap 300g of rice

progress

Greater control of our physical environment.

What if we had control to cause the sun to go supernova by doing something that everyone on earth has access to, like simply arranging a small pile of pebbles in a rough pattern?

That would not be good or progress.