[erasemus]

it’s meaningless to say human society had made progress without stating areas that you’re considering and not considering when it comes to assessing such progress

Is it meaningless to say that some areas are more worthy of consideration than others? There are reasons why the OP chose infant mortality and education as example areas. Those reasons could be made explicit and examined objectively: for instance to see if they make sense by their own terms. For example is a society that prioritises a certain area able to continue to do that well into the future, or not?