What does 'The more things change the more they remain the same' mean?

A chair will always be a chair will it not? no matter how many times you alter its appearance.

This saying means that no matter how much "progress" is made, human society is still pretty much the same as it was in the beginning. If you travel to some of the oldest cities in the world, you can find graffiti that says things like "Lucius painted this," and "Celadus the Thracier makes the girls moan."