We need to look at what we can improve. Of course things have improved, but not uniformly across all domains and many things have gotten worse.
If we keep patting ourselves on back, these too will degrade. Using hindsight to definitively say what has gotten worse is how we improve including the things you are mentioning.
I kind of think of progress as navigation on a complex multidimensional domain space filled with lots of local optima. To not consult hindsight (gradient) is a bad strategy. Similarly, to not explore is to stay at the same spot. Sometimes, it is important to roll back and go to the old days and try to explore in another direction.
We need to look at what we can improve. Of course things have improved, but not uniformly across all domains and many things have gotten worse.
If we keep patting ourselves on back, these too will degrade. Using hindsight to definitively say what has gotten worse is how we improve including the things you are mentioning.
I kind of think of progress as navigation on a complex multidimensional domain space filled with lots of local optima. To not consult hindsight (gradient) is a bad strategy. Similarly, to not explore is to stay at the same spot. Sometimes, it is important to roll back and go to the old days and try to explore in another direction.