It does seem like slow progress sometimes but in other areas it seems really fast. The progression of electronics and communication has been pretty amazing in the last 20 years. I really think that has the capability to accelerate our learning to an entirely new level. Searching the worlds knowledge is so much faster now and if all that time isn't spent trying to find pieces of the answer then the final answers can be arrived at way faster. Also the connection of genius level work is more accessible. There was a time when these people would be working basically in isolation of each other. Now the information of research can be shared and expanded on so much quicker. If we don't blow ourselves up we can do it!