What is the greatest invention ever? (1 Viewer)

[Cam S]

Astroglide
Haha, all kidding aside, I'd have to say the computer.

 

[Jefferson]

A for
air conditioning.

 

[Jed M]

air conditioning

Jefferson, you just beat me to it. Without it I don't think Las Vegas would have 2 million people.

 

[RossTerry]

the toilet

 

[Dave Morton]

I agree with Ron, Beer.

But perhaps the Cotton Gin was a pretty damn good invention.

 

[DonRoeber]

Although not the single most important (I'd probably go with the plough for that) modern refrigeration was also a HUGE boost.

Along with fire, I'd argue that we didn't invent pennicilin as much as figure out how to use it properly.

 

[Dheiner]

How about Radio? (And the forms of wireless communication that followed.)

 

[Jared_B]

Is it what inventions have had the biggest impact on our modern society, or biggest impact to mankind?

For our society, I'd say:

Electricity - Or, how to control electricity, since it is a naturally occurring phenomenon.

Internal Combustion Engine

Computer

For mankind in general, it's hard to argue with the plow. Fire, or being able to (somewhat) control fire, is also very important.

 

[John Spencer]

Disposable toilet paper

 

[Jeff Pryor]

The internet. Without it, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

 

[Tim Hoover]

I'm quite fond of contraceptives, myself. Sorry to drag this down to a 4th grade level.

Seriously, I would have to say writing. I'm currently reading a book entitled The Axemaker's Gift about the profound impact of the written word on society, and the power shifts that occur due to it.

 

[Ted Lee]

hmmm....a few off the top of my head:
electricity
it allowed us to turn night into day, changing the fundamental way we work and play. can you imagine life after dark before lightbulbs (barring gas lighting). it's allowed us to have all the modern conveniences we're used to.
computer
should be pretty self explanatory. better hope no one drops an EMP (?) bomb on us.
television
clearly a significant invention, but whether it's done more harm than good is arguable.
automobile
allowed us to travel and explore. freedom to move out of the cities into the suburbs. ultimate expression of personal freedom. impetus behind mass-transit roads, highways, etc.
vaccines
without these, we'd all be dead...polio anyone?
htf
without which, i wouldn't be here thinking about this instead of work.
i'm sure there's many more, but whether any one is the single greatest would certainly make for an interesting debate.

 

[Andrew W]

The best invention of all time is the knife.

Note that a plow is pretty much a derivative of the knife.

 

[RobertR]

The scientific method. Since adopting it, we've made more progress in the past several hundred years than we made in the previous tens of thousands of years.

 

[Adil M]

Edit: I swear to God I did not write this post.

 

[Phil Kim]

Hey, this thread reminds me of Technology Tree from Civilization computer game! I think I will go play now.

 

[Lance Nichols]

I don't think one single invention can be considered "The most important".

How ever, my take is:

A) The plough, reason being, it removed our need to be hunter/gatherers. This allowed us to develop other practices, such as domestication of livestock, etc. (I think the dog has been domesticated a LOT longer then any other animal, truly Mankind's best, longest, and truest friend)

After that things pretty well progressed at a over all slow pace (although there were spurts of progress when ever there were large concentrations of Humans with good communication networks), until

B) The invention of the movable type printing press (it's not commonly known, but The Chinese had a press long before Gutenberg's, but you had to render each page, one mistake, and it was back to the engraver...). This allowed information, and ideas to explode, once unleashed, this was one genie that could not be put back in the bottle.

C) The ability to control, and create electricity, gas had started to move people into a 24hr society (or at least allowed them to work earlier/later) but even though it was remarkably reliable, it also created death traps of explosive magnitude. Electricity had all the benefits of gas lighting, and was MUCH safer.

D) The transistor - this little miracle allowed electronic devices to explode into every conceivable area of modern life. With out them, the moon, and everything else was nearly unobtainable.

I consider the landing of Mankind on the moon to be one of Mankind's greatest achievements, and debacles. Why we went there, then abandoned it, I don't know. The social engineering "reasons" never have struck me as reason enough.

 

[Francois Caron]

Even though I don't drink it, I can understand the importance of beer as both an invention and a social tool.

Wasn't beer invented by the Egyptians something like three thousand years ago?

 

[Joseph Young]

I agree that the [rant]Plough[/rant] assisted in domesticating us from our nomadic lifestyles. But [rant]post and lintel[/rant] architecture certainly allowed for more permanent, sturdy structures. A fantastic invention.

Did somebody mention [rant]soap[/rant] already?

~j

 

[CharlesD]

BEER
Why else do you think our ancestors would want to leave the hunter/gatherer lifestyle and develop agriculture? So they could have a better supply of ingredients for the BEER!
The plough, wheel, printing press, microprocessor etc. all come from his and all, ultimately, were invented to make the brewing of beer easier.