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Man's best discovery/invention ?

Stringed instruments and drums... to go with the shepherd's ancient flute... precursor of the jazz trio. We do not live by bread alone and may sometimes be saved by our ability to make or hear music.

“Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.”

-- From William Congreve's 1697 play The Mourning Bride​
 
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These babies have reduced the gap between a fantasy like "I want to eat a Doner kebab on the streets of Berlin" and reality.

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SoggyCheese said:
Glass. It has allowed lenses, which allows people with knowledge to continue both learning and working much later into life. It has therefore accelerated scientific development and led to countless other important discoveries.
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Excellent choice.

And I agree with you that the use of glass in such ways transformed western civilisation/culture and learning.

However, other cultures (such as the Chinese) also had access to glass and lenses, but did not wish for these invention to be widely available outside of a small elite circle.

Thus, it is not enough to have an invention, one has to ensure the widespread benefit and use of that invention.
 
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Scepticalscribe said:
Thus, it is not enough to have an invention, one has to ensure the widespread benefit and use of that invention.
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Yup. Someone mentioned toilets earlier.

There is a certain country in South Asia, that I will not name.

People there need to be educated about the use of toilets so they stop pooping in the streets in plain view of foreign tourists and leaving a very $#!tty impression of the country.
 
maculateConception said:
LOL

Exactly. It always amazes me how we humans pile on items to the "needs" list when animals seem to manage just fine with very little.
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I know... We have certainly over-complicated life for no real benefit. Some things have been "nice". But, imagine how much more time we might have to relax and enjoy life, if we hadn't added such complications of modern society. In reality, we "need" 3 things. Water, Food, Sleep. All of which could be obtained without all the craziness we've added to get modern luxuries that drain the rest of our life in other areas to obtain.

Imagine how much more time we might have for preferential things, like relaxation, companionship, etc. if we weren't off chasing the ability to buy everything. If left to our primitive ways, we could have had everything we needed without money, and had a lot more time to enjoy the beauty of this world. Sure, we might not have skyscrapers, and fancy modern houses, things like that. But, give me a simple subsistence life, and a great companion, and I'm good.
 
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flyinmac said:
give me a simple subsistence life, and a great companion, and I'm good.
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Same here ! Cottage in the woods would be perfect.
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flyinmac said:
Imagine how much more time we might have for preferential things, like relaxation, companionship, etc. if we weren't off chasing the ability to buy everything.
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Priorities have gotten reversed. All the wrong things are at the top of the list.
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flyinmac said:
In reality, we "need" 3 things. Water, Food, Sleep.
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Yup. I can think of one more thing 😉

Are you familiar with the "hierarchy of needs" model ?
 
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maculateConception said:
Same here ! Cottage in the woods would be perfect.
[doublepost=1528700682][/doublepost]

Priorities have gotten reversed. All the wrong things are at the top of the list.
[doublepost=1528700739][/doublepost]

Yup. I can think of one more thing 😉

Are you familiar with the "hierarchy of needs" model ?
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Yes, studied that model in college. It's pretty basic.

Definitely agree with the cottage in the woods idea. Really all we need, and can be built off the land
 
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My first answer would have been fire but there's been some interesting stuff recently about how we managed to go from nearly extinct to migrating everywhere and outcompeting the Neanderthals at the same time as we went. It's all a bit of a puzzle as they too had both stone tools, fire and I certainly wouldn't fancy many chances up close against one of them if we got arguing about who's hunting territory we were in. So how did we do it? The thinking seems to be our invention and love of projectile weapons gave us a massive advantage. (Lightweight throwing spears, atlatl's, bow and arrows etc ). Killing things at a distance is a damn good plan if you want to survive and prosper*.

So I'd go Fire > Projectile Weapons > Wheel

* I'm talking about most of our history not say, the last couple of hundred years!
 
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flyinmac said:
I know... We have certainly over-complicated life for no real benefit. Some things have been "nice". But, imagine how much more time we might have to relax and enjoy life, if we hadn't added such complications of modern society. In reality, we "need" 3 things. Water, Food, Sleep. All of which could be obtained without all the craziness we've added to get modern luxuries that drain the rest of our life in other areas to obtain.

Imagine how much more time we might have for preferential things, like relaxation, companionship, etc. if we weren't off chasing the ability to buy everything. If left to our primitive ways, we could have had everything we needed without money, and had a lot more time to enjoy the beauty of this world. Sure, we might not have skyscrapers, and fancy modern houses, things like that. But, give me a simple subsistence life, and a great companion, and I'm good.
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I agree with you to a point, but without some inventions, most of your time would be used up gathering food and swatting flies off your ass.
 
Man's greatest discovery: One more vote for fire.

Man's greatest invention: Language. No other invention comes close. Without language, each successive generation would reinvent the wheel instead of building upon what was already discovered/invented.
 
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flyinmac said:
I know... We have certainly over-complicated life for no real benefit.
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The biggest waste of time I see in the world is politics. How every single thing every single politician or celebrity says on Twitter is made into some huge friggin deal and anally analyzed like it is some absolute truth handed down from the divine ! Every friggin word that comes out of their (often unintelligent) mouths is broken down and interpreted and debates erupt .. over what ?!!! Jesus ! How much wasted energy that could be spent so much more productively or just peacefully. How much power people give others over themselves !

Can you imagine your pet dog complaining about what "benefits" the pet dog from the mansion down the street receives and how he deserves more ? Can you imagine your cat wasting her time talking with her cat pals about enforcing harsher punishment for bad cat owners ?

No, cats and dogs (at least ones not owned by neurotic people) are too busy enjoying life in the now to worry about stupid insignificant $#!t.
 
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