Interesting points. I think you are right that technological progress doesn't imply societal progress, I think there may be a relationship that goes the other way around: societal progress can cause technological progress, or at least, more rapid technological progress. A society that is dedicated to eliminating its collective problems, to easing the burden of the less fortunate within it, will necessarily divert resources to finding to ways to do so.

> But it's not entirely clear to me whether we've fundamentally changed our nature, or if the tribes have just gotten bigger.

I think part of the reason for this lack of clarity is that we are going through this change right now. We're in the middle of it, with people at all ranges between "totally tribalist" and "totally humanist" (if "humanist" is the right term to use there, as in advocating for all peoples). Nationalism is one kind of pseudo-tribalism that is about more than just who your family is, and I'd argue globalism is another step along the path towards a less tribal society.

The other issue is that not everyone agrees that becoming less tribal is a good thing, so you have some people actively trying to speed the change, and other people actively trying to slow or even reverse it. So, yeah... it gets pretty confusing.