There have been so many great inventions that have helped humans get to where we are today. The use of fire and the wheel got us off to a hot roll so to speak. What others might you consider as being in the realm of great?
What about refrigeration or electricity?
Computing power in the hands of everyone is huge in my opinion
@JargogleBearHug Totally agree with that one.
Flying shuttle. John Kay, 1733, Lancashire UK.
Agricultural revolutions and all that are all very nice, but all they give you is more people. So what. Flying shuttle, and its consequences, ultimately gives you people with more time. And that's what defines the difference between the modern world and the old world, in the same way that seed planting defines the difference between the nomadic world and the settled world.
Invention of pottery is another one that always gets forgotten in these kinds of conversations.
The Ban Hammer
Costco
I think my digital watch is pretty neat!
Generative Ai is going to transform the world in a number of remarkably positive ways
There is so many it’s hard to nail it down to 1 or 2. As a pilot I would say the airplane really changed the world. And I can’t leave out air conditioning, living here in Florida I can’t imagine living here before having it.
My ancestors invented oxygen.
Seriously though, the printing press was perhaps the greatest invention. It took knowledge from the few and spread it to the many.
If I could do life over again I would get involved with prosthetics. So many cool ways to restore people's ability to thrive given their unique conditions.
I’m unconvinced that there are “good” inventions.
I can’t think of many (any, but I could be wrong) that haven’t been used as simply “better” ways to oppress each other, or outright murder each other. Often with the bonus effect of destroying the things we have tried to build, and polluting the environment itself.
We are still children, and we keep inventing worse and worse types of fireworks.
@Vocalist100 I understood that reference!
@CharlesGrove two different meanings of 'good'.
Any invention can be used for morally good or bad purposes, and people can argue about which of these intentions are which in some cases. Nearly every worthwhile invention is used for both sooner or later.
You can argue that every invention is good because it nudges us further along the technological tree. And you can argue that every invention is bad for the same reason.
For me its very simple. I want to be a brain in a jar (bodies are are just pain machines) and anything that might conceivably contribute towards that end - even as a tiny part of its effect - is good.
There's lots of important innovations in human history. To me, the big one is the printing press - it made reading possible for ordinary people
Just about anything invented by Archimedes or Leonardo da Vinci deserves honorable mention
Oh, the number zero. That's another good one.
And the number i, of course. That really is a good one. It definitely, definitely exists .... even though it doesn't exist. Now that's clever.
i = square root of -1
Tampons and air conditioning. Sorry, true story. It's romantic to think of living in other historical eras, but realistically, I refuse to live in any other...period. 😉
~ Sunset Snuggles
🫂 Enthusiast 🌄 Travel Junkie 📸 Shutter Bug
Seems like antibiotics and vaccinations should be included on the list of great inventions.
Garlic Press / Mincer, and Blender..
air conditioning is huge condoms/birth control is another big one the internet has changed the world so much
@JargogleBearHug lol yeah smartphones are big. imagine going back to medieval times and explaining that the wealth of all information that mankind has can be accessed instantly in a device that fits in my pocket yet most people use it to look at funny videos of cats and get into arguments with strangers they will never meet.
@SunsetSnuggles I would say the menstrual disc and/or cup depending on the cervical tilt during a gal's cycle.
Saves so much money and resources, too! Revolutized my personal world at least 😉
Writing and mathematics.
@Blissizy
Honestly the Ring 💍
I think that is one of the most popular life saving and crime solving inventions, even though society has more recently gotten behind the life saving trend of owning a ring and it’s extreme versatility.
We can all remember the time when going into public was a more private and untraceable experience and now days you cannot go anywhere without being seen, recorded or tracked. You go to the store cameras in your face and shopping cart, Starbucks has you covered on every angle 📐 (but a venti caramel frappe is always worth being recorded for 😍) Especially if you’re heavy into the tech industry and have spare money to spend you can even have systems upgraded with facial recognition. This invention was heavily undervalued and underrated when it was first introduced to the market and passed in and now that the inventor(s) went and sold it solo after shark tank🦈 they are billionaires. As of current day, everyone and they momma has a ring doorbell on/at their house. My houses have several rings on each of them, at each entrance. All of my family members homes have one and hell so versatile at the docks here in Chicago several of my boat owning friends keep a ring in their boats to make sure no one is stealing or Tampering with their vessel while it’s stored away for the winter ❄️
They are being used in crime documentaries all the time catching criminals and revealing evidence of kidnapping’s, murders, break ins, sexual assaults etc. I am not a fan of it but some people even use ring cameras inside of their home. One man was caught killing his wife on the indoor ring and tried to delete the footage after he called the police to come and investigate. They revealed a 30 clip of him yelling at her and throwing objects at her in an argument before catching him in a lie and arresting him.
All in all, I like the ring because it can help society keep a screen of safety over people/families by deterring people from targeting them when they know they’ll be recorded on camera 🎥 it’s reasonably affordable and it’s origins began with a story of failure and denial, just as every American underdog story it came back with a strong upper cut and success story !!!!
Only suggestion for them is to join up with life alert so they can have a medical button for elderly parents or disabled children/family member’s to press for an ambulance 🚑 or police to bring them aid easily if needed in an emergency ‼️
~ Happy Cuddling Everyone 🤗 ~
Indoor plumbing and water filtration
@pmvines I was wondering when the indoor toilet would be mentioned and thought it might be you.
Yeah outhouses in bear country would not be fun
Penicillin
But also the ability to shower, wash dishes, laundry etc without having to walk 2 miles to the river or dig a well is also pretty neat
IMO, technology largely peaked with the invention of the bicycle, (with pneumatic rubber tires, of course).