What's The Greatest Invention in History?

[OGTEleven]

6 hours ago, Tiberius said:

Written language

And by extension, music.

[frostbitmic]

The Thermos - How does it know how to keep the hot things hot and the cold things cold ?   

[Jauronimo]

I would argue that the invention of inventions was pretty impactful.  The invention came about in 1793 just in time for Eli Whitney to popularize inventions with the cotton gin.  Before Eli Whitney there was no true innovation, only recycling of and incremental improvement on existing ideas. The invention would stagnate however, mostly due to the spectacular failure that was the steamboat which sucked most of the joy out of inventing.  And for a long time nothing really happened.  That is, until, the invention of technology in 1903.  Technology was invented by the Swedes and was primarily focused on the design of modular furniture until a string a futuristic movies including Back to the Future, The Terminator, and ET the Extra Terrestrial, captivated imaginations worldwide.  For the first time in human history people began wondering "can technology be used to improve my everyday life?"...and the rest is history.

 

Without the invention of inventions, most of this would not have been possible.

[DaBillsFanSince1973]

rock n roll 🎸 and sliced bread 🥪

[muppy]

how about the internet and / or computers. I use mine daily as do most people here. It's pretty danged important . Greatest? Maybe!

[Steve O]

11 hours ago, muppy said:

how about the internet and / or computers. I use mine daily as do most people here. It's pretty danged important . Greatest? Maybe!

Greatest, maybe. Most dangerous, definitely. 

[TheCockSportif]

Linux/FreeBSD changed the way I thought about software and development -- and changed my focus in college from pre-law to computer science.

 

[Fleezoid]

22 hours ago, oldmanfan said:

At the turn of the century there was a list of the thousand most important people of the millennium.  The top of the list was Gutenberg because of the printing press.  I vote for that because the printing press allowed for the widespread sharing and application of knowledge.

 

And then the internet ruined it. 

[PromoTheRobot]

On 4/15/2024 at 2:05 PM, Gugny said:

Asswipes for adults. 

 

[Fleezoid]

Earplugs.

[AlCowlingsTaxiService]

21 hours ago, Doc said:

 

FIFY

Left or right?

[DefenseWins]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned electricity. Your microwave ovens would be entirely useless without ELECTRICITY.  No cell phones either without electricity. No big screen TVs or Computers. 

[Bad Things]

On 4/17/2024 at 4:23 AM, oldmanfan said:

At the turn of the century there was a list of the thousand most important people of the millennium.  The top of the list was Gutenberg because of the printing press.  I vote for that because the printing press allowed for the widespread sharing and application of knowledge.

Yup, I agree with this one.

 

[Fleezoid]

1 hour ago, DefenseWins said:

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned electricity. Your microwave ovens would be entirely useless without ELECTRICITY.  No cell phones either without electricity. No big screen TVs or Computers. 

 

I agree! Shocking!

[Irv]

34 minutes ago, Fleezoid said:

 

I agree! Shocking!

 

1 hour ago, Bad Things said:

Yup, I agree with this one.

 

 

Well, electricity wasn't really invented.  How about the invention of the AC generator to produce electricity? 

 

 

Edited April 17 by Irv

[SoTier]

26 minutes ago, Irv said:

 

 

Well, electricity wasn't really invented.  How about the invention of the AC generator to produce electricity? 

 

 

 

Actually both alternating and direct current produce electricity.  

 

 

[SoTier]

While fire itself isn't an invention, the harnessing of fire for light, heat, and cooking food certainly was.  It was the very first step on the road to civilization. 

[Irv]

1 hour ago, SoTier said:

 

Actually both alternating and direct current produce electricity.  

 

 

DC is not superior to AC in the overall scheme of inventions.  

[DrW]

50 minutes ago, Irv said:

DC is not superior to AC in the overall scheme of inventions.  

 

Certainly not, but it is easier to understand the chemistry of a battery that produces a stream of electrons (DC). It is much more difficult to grasp how you can make the electrons go back and forth in a wire (AC).

Edited April 18 by DrW

[Royale with Cheese]

At this point, the internet.

 

It gives you unlimited resources of knowledge.  

 

It can transfer funds/money instantly.

 

It's powerful enough that without it now, countries would crumble.  

 

It brings communication through out the world instant.

 

It gives you unlimited resources to anything because you can get anything you want from the internet.  Research, find it, order it and have it delivered.  Which makes life easier for many people.