Greatest invention ever?

[NatrlBornThrllr]

So, I was thinking...the parking spot was a really good idea, because were there no parking spots, everyone would be parked every which way and people would constantly be boxed in, or driving around the lot looking for a spot where they don't run the risk of getting hit.

This made me think...what's the best invention ever? The automobile? Certainly allows for us to do required things that otherwise would be a really difficult chore (from grocery shopping, to going to visit a friend, to getting to work/school). It allowed cities to expand, which opened the door to hundreds of things that otherwise wouldn't have had a place in a world that's difficult to get around (from tanning salons to dry cleaners...these luxuries wouldn't be around if we had to saddle up a horse for a 45 minute ride to, say, the movie theater).

Then, of course, there's electricity (my choice). Same as with the car...it's provided numerous luxuries that otherwise wouldn't exist (television, refridgeration, light with the flick of a switch, and so forth). Everyday things wouldn't be around were it not for electricity.

Indoor plumbing was a nice idea, because sanitation wouldn't be anywhere near what it is without it. Fire and the wheel are kinda overstated, because fire's always been around (lightening hits a dry field, ooooh, fire). The wheel isn't a good invention without the wagon or automobile, or something of the sort...so I don't think that, in and of itself, was all that brilliant.

Airplanes were a good invention. Want to see Europe? No need to make it a two-month ordeal, you can have a nice, week-long vacation. Made the world much, much smaller...which, I believe, is a good thing. Speaking of making the world smaller...the Internet was also a good one. Endless information and communication at your fingertips...something that truly brought the world together on one network (so to speak). Of course, without electricity...the internet is nothing more than a good idea.

One things for sure: sliced bread is overrated.

-JP

[NatrlBornThrllr]

Oh, and feel free to respond with something that will make everyone laugh. Just take note: responses like, "Marijuana is the best invention ever...that and pornography" are neither witty, nor clever...so put a bit more thought into your joke than that. :)

...or just discuss this funeriffic topic seriously.

-JP

[Michael Fornal]

Nanotechnology. (give it some time and then tell me how right I was :))

[Michael Fornal]

And while saying that the wheel isn't a good one because it's worthless without a wagon or whatever.. I think that's the wrong way to look at it. Look at is as the wagon, car, airplane, etc wouldn't exist without the invention of the wheel.

[Kevin]

Printing Press.
Think about it

[NatrlBornThrllr]

But, what good would nanotechnology be if it was worked on by candlelight? TV, Radio, computers, even nanotechnology and other scientific advances...none would have come about without the discovery of, and innovativeness it took to harness, electricity. Without electricity, the greates inventions of all time would have never come about.

-JP

[NatrlBornThrllr]

The printing press isn't the greatest invention. Anybody who went to high school knows that word of mouth will eventually get the job done. I assume you're referring to the thought that, if nobody could get out the word that electricity, automobiles, and etc were invented...then they wouldn't have had an effect on society (at least that's the best justification I can come up with for naming the printing press as the greatest invention of all time). Either way, the printing press is something that can be done without. Word can spread without it. There is no substitute for electricity.

-JP

[Kevin]

ill make a post later

[NatrlBornThrllr]

Originally posted by Mike
And while saying that the wheel isn't a good one because it's worthless without a wagon or whatever.. I think that's the wrong way to look at it. Look at is as the wagon, car, airplane, etc wouldn't exist without the invention of the wheel.

Triple post, woohoo.

I though of that...but then I thought that, if somebody was going to come up with an idea regarding mass transit, the wheel would naturally be a part of it. You don't here people saying that the spark plug is the greatest invention ever. Why? Because it's a part that was used in the creation of a larger idea...same for the wheel. Or so I think, at least.

-JP

[NatrlBornThrllr]

Eh, I'm just going to keep on posting as I think of things. Another response to Kevin: I thought more about your statement...and came up with more reasons why the printing press is significant, but I don't think the reasons justify it being named the greatest invention ever. If you're using the reasoning I think you are, you would have to state that the internet is the greatest invention ever...because it takes the idea of mass publication and availability of text (news, books, ideas, and so forth) so much further than the printing press ever could have.

-JP

[Trent Steel]

Originally posted by NatrlBornThrllr
Eh, I'm just going to keep on posting as I think of things. Another response to Kevin: I thought more about your statement...and came up with more reasons why the printing press is significant, but I don't think the reasons justify it being named the greatest invention ever. If you're using the reasoning I think you are, you would have to state that the internet is the greatest invention ever...because it takes the idea of mass publication and availability of text (news, books, ideas, and so forth) so much further than the printing press ever could have.

-JP
Every list has named it the #1 invention in the last 1000 years -

<table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" width="601"> <tbody><tr><td bgcolor="#dddddd">
</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" bgcolor="#dddddd" width="590">Thus, intellectual life soon was no longer the exclusive domain of church and court, and literacy became a necessity of urban existence. The printing press stoked intellectual fires at the end of the Middle Ages, helping usher in an era of enlightenment. This great cultural rebirth was inspired by widespread access to and appreciation for classical art and literature, and these translated into a renewed passion for artistic expression. Without the development of the printing press, the Renaissance may never have happened. Without inexpensive printing to make books available to a large portion of society, the son of John Shakespeare, a minor government official in rural England in the mid-1500s, may never have been inspired to write what are now recognized as some of history's greatest plays. What civilization gained from Gutenberg's invention is incalculable.</td></tr></tbody> </table>

[Nyeh]

war

[Kevin]

Originally posted by Trent Steel
Every list has named it the #1 invention in the last 1000 years -

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=601 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#dddddd>


</TD></TR><TR><TD width=590 bgColor=#dddddd colSpan=2>Thus, intellectual life soon was no longer the exclusive domain of church and court, and literacy became a necessity of urban existence. The printing press stoked intellectual fires at the end of the Middle Ages, helping usher in an era of enlightenment. This great cultural rebirth was inspired by widespread access to and appreciation for classical art and literature, and these translated into a renewed passion for artistic expression. Without the development of the printing press, the Renaissance may never have happened. Without inexpensive printing to make books available to a large portion of society, the son of John Shakespeare, a minor government official in rural England in the mid-1500s, may never have been inspired to write what are now recognized as some of history's greatest plays. What civilization gained from Gutenberg's invention is incalculable.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Exactly. There would be no books, newspapers, textbooks, instruction manuals, etc.

[NatrlBornThrllr]

Originally posted by Kevin
Exactly. There would be no books, newspapers, textbooks, instruction manuals, etc.

Things were still written. That's beside the point, though...because by your reasoning, the internet would have to be the greatest invention, since it takes the ideals you hold so highly from the printing press and multiplies them exponentially. Not only are texts, instructions, books, and news available...now they're all in one place, at your fingertips, and certainly more readily available than when in print. The internet is the printing press, x eleventybillion, plus dozens other cool features...all rolled into one.

Also, to Devin: I wasn't saying it's better solely because it came first. I'm saying that without it, the latter could not exist. Without electricity, nanotechnology would not exist. Therefore, since nanotechnology (and everything nanotechnology produces) is dependent upon electricity (not to mention the thousands of other things that are dependent upon electricity)...electricity is more significant. Electricity is the basis which these other great inventions rely upon. As such, it's more significant.

-JP

[Trent Steel]

Without a (written) language, specially when it conveys concepts and feelings, all cultures — scientific, literary or otherwise — would be all but a conceptless matter. The Third Culture simply could not breathe. Even the World Wide Web is just a printing press with electronic and photonic elaborations

[nickbahh]

At the risk of opening myself up to numerous people saying that I am stealing from Donnie Darko, antiseptics have to be near the top of the list, without our life expectancy would be dramatically lower, that is saying plauge or disease wouldn't have already wiped out the planet.

[NatrlBornThrllr]

Without a (written) language, specially when it conveys concepts and feelings, all cultures — scientific, literary or otherwise — would be all but a conceptless matter. The Third Culture simply could not breathe. Even the World Wide Web is just a printing press with electronic and photonic elaborations

There was written language prior to the printing press, though. The printing press did not create written language, so that argument is moot. The statement that the World Wide Web is like a printing press has merit...as does the statement that a peppermint is like a sirloin steak, because both are edible. Don't stretch your argument.

If you claim the printing press is the most significant invention, my counter is that the Internet is a greater invention still, since it does all that the printing press can do many times over, and then more. This is indisputable. The internet offers all of the pros of the printing press, and then some...and the internet is not palpable without electricity. Electricity not only opened the door to numerous everyday devices (refrigeration, light, television, air conditioning, and on and on), it also opens the door to exponential improvement upon other great inventions (ie: the printing press)...and who knows what else will be created (a very large percentage of scientific advances simply could not be, were it not for electricity).

Electricity is the gift that keeps on giving. In one way or another, it plays a part in nearly every aspect of life as we know it. It's provided for expansion of business, science, leisure, knowledge, organization, and on and on and on.

-JP

[Trent Steel]

electiricity is not an invention.

[Trent Steel]

Originally posted by Devin
thats true.
it was an engineering marvel to harness it and use it for other applications.

[nickbahh]

there would be an argument for the generator then

[Trent Steel]

Originally posted by nickbah04
there would be an argument for the generator then
the printing press made you smarter.

[Kevin]

the printing press also enabled the widespread growth of religion (bible, quran, torah, etc)

[nickbahh]

I have had the greatest invention conversation many times before and nobody ever reaches an agreement in the end. The only thing that I have o come to realize in these conversations is that the word greatest is too subjective. What is important to some isn't important to others, that is why this is an impossible to come to a consensus on an answer. In past arguments these are the inventions that have had the most valid claims to the title greatest invention of all time. In no paticular order: Agriculture: the ability to grow our own food has allowed humans to abandon nomadic ways, we were no longer solely dependent on following our food. This allowed population to flourish. The printing press: pretty well explained already so I won't elaborate. Antiseptics: also already explained. The automobile, enabled long distance travel at relatively high speeds and easliy accessible to a large number of people. The telegraph, long distance communication delivered in high speeds, paved way for the telephone and other communication devices. There are more but i have homework to do now, maybe i'll list more later, maybe not.

[NatrlBornThrllr]

Your argument has come down to electricity not being an invention. Lame. So, the printing press isn't an invention either, because it's just a bunch of metal and metal is liek totally a natural substance 'n stuff. Or, maybe the printing press is an invention due to the way the inventor transformed the metal into a useful thing (or, perhaps say...the way Thomas Edison developed a practical, applicable electrical system). If you can't refute my argument, just say so...don't try to change the subject by arguing semantics.

Oh, and religion was capable of spreading long before the printing press was invented. Why do you think the bible was the first book to be printed? Perhaps because Christianity had experienced "widespread growth" prior to the printing press?

The printing press was useful for one thing and one thing only: the mass production of information. The internet now does that better than the printing press ever could have...and the internet would not exist were we not able to harness electricity. On that note alone, electricity has one-upped the printing press...but given all of it's other functions, it blows the printing press out of the water.

-JP

[flychick]

Chocolate chip Cookie Dough blizzards..(classic) Not the way they make htem now. Today, I personally ordered one the way they used to make them.

[johnson]

the wheel.... this is a key stepping stone for most inventions...

[graeme]

yeah.... included with the wheel would have to be the basic machines.


the pulley... the lever and whatever else

[Trent Steel]

Originally posted by NatrlBornThrllr
Your argument has come down to electricity not being an invention. Lame. So, the printing press isn't an invention either, because it's just a bunch of metal and metal is liek totally a natural substance 'n stuff. Or, maybe the printing press is an invention due to the way the inventor transformed the metal into a useful thing (or, perhaps say...the way Thomas Edison developed a practical, applicable electrical system). If you can't refute my argument, just say so...don't try to change the subject by arguing semantics.

Oh, and religion was capable of spreading long before the printing press was invented. Why do you think the bible was the first book to be printed? Perhaps because Christianity had experienced "widespread growth" prior to the printing press?

The printing press was useful for one thing and one thing only: the mass production of information. The internet now does that better than the printing press ever could have...and the internet would not exist were we not able to harness electricity. On that note alone, electricity has one-upped the printing press...but given all of it's other functions, it blows the printing press out of the water.

-JP
we are posting on a message board. = Printing Press.

nuff said.

[NatrlBornThrllr]

Sorry, no...this message board isn't a printing press.

-JP

[NatrlBornThrllr]

Sorry, no...perhaps you need some clarification. See, this message board isn't a printing press. This is a printing press:

http://azninja66.tripod.com/pictures/printing_press.jpg

I know the differences are subtle, but hopefully now you'll stop confusing the two.

-JP

[Automat0r]

I think JP's "-JP" trademark is the greatest invention ever.


-JP

[Trent Steel]

Originally posted by NatrlBornThrllr
Sorry, no...perhaps you need some clarification. See, this message board isn't a printing press. This is a printing press:

http://azninja66.tripod.com/pictures/printing_press.jpg

I know the differences are subtle, but hopefully now you'll stop confusing the two.

-JP
what ever. The whole reason you are able to study in school is because of the printing press.

http://www.power106.fm/pics/logos/kip_160.gif

Look where society would be with out the readily availability of books.

[HRslammR]

i'm gonna be a nerd here and go out and say the computer. but, EVERYTHING now is going to have some level of computer, or some creation by the computer.

[NatrlBornThrllr]

Originally posted by Trent Steel
what ever. The whole reason you are able to study in school is because of the printing press.

http://www.power106.fm/pics/logos/kip_160.gif

Look where society would be with out the readily availability of books.

I dunno, they'd probably have to do something crazy like put laptops in the classrooms or something.

...waaaaaiiiitt.

-JP

[Trent Steel]

From the same site you got your printing press picture from -

Ever since man invented the wheel, the spear, and the loincloth, thinkers and inventors alike have been creating and testing new inventions that revolutionize technology and the world. There are many arguments about what invention had the greatest impact on modern society in the past two thousand years. Inventions like the microscope, the plow, and the eraser. Respectively, there are similar arguments about what inventions had the least impact on modern society. Wacky inventions such as the pet rock and the have no practical use except entertainment purposes only. Hundred of new technological advances over the centuries have shaped and revolutionized the world but no invention has more importance than the printing press.

Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1445. Before the printing press, bookmakers had to copy all the words and illustrations by hand. This process was very time-consuming and books were very expensive. By the 1400s, German engravers had developed movable type, the type was set into adjustable molds, inked, then pressed onto a sheet of paper. Johannes Gutenberg's printing press had two hundred and ninety separate symbols. The ink he used was a combination of boiled linseed oil and soot. He adapted a rolling tray so that he could slide the paper in and out. To operate the press, the wanted characters or symbols were preset then the paper would be slide into the press. The paper would be pressed with ink and be rolled off. The finished product was a sheet of paper that contains inked characters or symbols.

The historical need that was the catalyst for the invention was the need of an efficient and inexpensive production of books and other documents. In 1455 Johannes Gutenberg printed a complete edition of the Bible using his movable type. The Gutenberg Bible was the first Bible ever printed and the first book ever printed in Europe. It first impacted society by offering the common people a vernacular Bible. The common people did not have to rely on a priest to read the Bible and instead could purchase their own copy typed in their own language. Books were published more quickly and were less expensive.

The invention of the printing press affects the world today by employing the technology to be use for printing newspapers, magazines, and books. It is communication to the masses. Students now read from textbooks hundred of pages long. The Sunday newspaper weighs over two pounds. Without the invention of the printing press, machines like the copier, fax machine, and color printer might have been invented. The greater historical significance from the Global Perspective of the printing press is that it supplied man with a technological advance in writing. With the printing press, books spread around the world, information could reach the public faster, and foreign ideas could become known by the common people. Worldwide, people became more literate, schools became popular for kids to learn how to read and write, and great literary works became published and sold around the world.

In 1445, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press to ease the work of German engravers and to produce a Bible in his German language. The printing press is an invention that revolutionized the history of writing and the new mechanical models, based on the original press, are being use around the world in print shops and newspaper companies to spread news and information to billions of people around the world. Instead of copying old text by hand, people can now order a copy at a print shop or buy a copy of the latest bestseller at a bookshop. No other invention had a greater impact in spreading new ideas and information and that is why the printing press is the greatest invention in history and has significantly changed the world for the better.

[NatrlBornThrllr]

I read that. Nothing there that hasn't already been discussed (and refuted) here. Original material, please...if you intend to continue our little discussion.

-JP

[Trent Steel]

Originally posted by NatrlBornThrllr


Then, of course, there's electricity (my choice). Same as with the car...it's provided numerous luxuries that otherwise wouldn't exist (television, refridgeration, light with the flick of a switch, and so forth). Everyday things wouldn't be around were it not for electricity.

-JP There you go. Luxuries. The world survived for many years with out luxuries, and could still opporate at a minimal level without them.

More than two-thirds of the world's population has no access to telephones, and only half have electricity. I have no figures on automobile, or indoor plumbing diffusion, but I guess that those numbers are low as well. So at the turn of the third millennium, most of the people on earth have yet to experience practically all of these greatest inventions. To me, that's a sobering thought.

-on a side note

According to an online poll conducted by the British technology magazine T3, the greatest invention of the past 40 years was the beer widget, the small ball filled with nitrogen that is designed to release the carbon dioxide dissolved in a can of Guinness beer, giving it a foamy head. The device, introduced in 1989, previously won the Queen's Award for Technological Achievement

[NatrlBornThrllr]

Sure, people got by without electricity...but it was a different world back then. Perhaps luxuries was the wrong word...because these things allowed our world to expand, to grow. If you were take away electricity today, you'd take away financial records, power, life support, communications, alarm systems...our world would be thrown into complete chaos. We've used electricity to expand, to build a world so complex and active that we could not possibly survive without it (and I mean we in the most literal sense, not we as in everyone on earth).

Plenty of people survive without the countless benefits of electricity...however, their societies are nowhere near as advanced as ours. Yet another indication of the significance of electricity on our society. Do away with the printing press, you still have a working society. Things would be different, perhaps difficult to get used to...but with the internet, television, and so forth...we could get by. Take away electricity, and our society is thrown for a loop that it, in my humble opinion, could not possibly survive. That, above all else, is the true indicator as to which of these things is most significant in today's society.

...and I agree, it's sad to think that all of the things that we take for granted have never been introduced to numerous societies. Were I a billionaire, I'd like to think that I would take one person, a teenager probably (somebody who isn't too old to start a life, but is old enough to appreciate the act) out of a third world country, and build him/her a life here in America (or in any civilized, advanced society...be it in Europe, Austrailia, North America, wherever). It would be a selfish act, because I'd want to witness firsthand the gratitude and excitement of somebody being introduced to luxuries that they never dreamed possible...but I think it would be fun. That's a whole other story, though.

-JP

[Jared]

Ah, but what good would electricity be without the transistor? Or the fuse? What about the mircochip? Penecillin?

I think that the best invention of our time would have to be the printing press. It would later be the catylst for the renissance, and without that, critical thinkers might not have ever discovered electricity in a usable form until much later.

[johnson]

im allergic to penecillin bitch, as many others are, so thats thrown out the fucking window along with all the other inventions everyone spoke of except teh wheel.... without that then there would be nothing.... face it im right....

[Jared]

Originally posted by johnson
im allergic to penecillin bitch, as many others are, so thats thrown out the fucking window along with all the other inventions everyone spoke of except teh wheel.... without that then there would be nothing.... face it im right....

I too, am allergic to penecillin.. Without it however, America might have lost WW1 or WW2.. Think about that one for a minute..

Wheel you say? What about the "shelter". Some time, long ago, far far back, man did know know what shelter was, how to build it.. Someone, some cave dude, figured out about basic structure properties, cross frames, etc.. We are only born with that instinct because of of millions of years of eveolution with it being burned into our existance.

And how would have cave dudes survived even before the wheel or the shelter, when the lived in caves? Thats right, the spear. The chizel (which would later make the wheel), and can also be called the "wedge" made weapons for nomadic hunter to hunt for food to survive, make clothes, etc..

Whoever was the first to realize, that a sharp edge can cut, assist, defend, build, and kill, he was the greatest inventor of all time.

[Michael Fornal]

So, I just read through this thread and thought of something.

Mathmatics.

That tops electricity, bar none.
Without it, nothing structured would ever exist.

And you can't use the argument that it wasn't invented, unless you also take away electricity. It may not have been invented, but it was applied in such a way to benefit us tremendously (just like electricity).

[Michael Fornal]

Originally posted by Devin
electricy shouldnt get more credit just because it was first. thats like saying my dad is better than me at running 5 miles because hes my dad. or saying keiths ass is tigher than mikes because mikes been with 17 guys and keith, only 3.

nanotech is pretty damn cool. makign camers the size of a pea or something. mike elaborate on nanotechnology, for i dont know many examples.


Exactly. That's like saying heating and shaping metal for use is more important than electricity because if that hadn't been done, there wouldn't have been a discovered conductor for the 'invented' electricity.

Nanotechnology is basically building things at a molecular level, one atom at a time. They are (relatively) near being ready to build an elevator to space, using nanotechnology. They'll use nanotubes.. they're over a hundred times stronger than steel, and so so very small. It's pretty amazing.

Not to mention the endless possibilities for new materials(like nanotubes) that will come from this. Nanotechnology, once it really gets going, will go far beyond the internet, cars, planes, or anything else modern that has been created as far as how much it will advance us. (one step closer to Singularity?)

[Trent Steel]

electricity is not an invention.

mathmatics is not an invention.

They have always existed, and always will exist.

If I am to jump up and down, I am creating and using energy.

2+2 will ALWAYS = 4

A better title for these should be

Greatest Discoveries Ever

[Michael Fornal]

Agreed. That was my point with mathmatics.. it's on the same level as electricity, and far more important in the scheme of things.

Discoveries and inventions should be entirely seperate threads, heh.

[Clix]

Originally posted by Trent Steel
2+2 will ALWAYS = 4



Big Brother shall prove you wrong.

[eddwarddwooddwardd]

Right

electricity not really an invention, how about the wire-making machine that out use of it depends upon.

Whilst considering that, how did we make accurate screws from less accurate screws, i can imagine a simple stone axe lathe powered by a treadle with 'homemade' rope being used with some carefully made 'homemade' rope givng rise to an screw accurate enough for a windmill/water wheel but an micrometer screw must need a screw to make it, how did we get from there to here?

Rope: - thats a goody

cars/ICE, the worst thing to happen to the planet since , ..., err, ok then the worst thing that happened to the planet. Not least coz they sompelled the existance of suburbs which have done nothing worthwhile except produce punk rock

nanotech, well micheal, i got 2 words fer ya , ..., 'grey goo' (damn i missed lexx last night, bollux)

the fact that johnson is allergic to penecillan does move it up the list but again not really an invention

h'mm printing press, yes i like but i prefer the net meself, but either way lets hear it for PAPER.
Jp your bunch of metal argument re the printing press & electricity is rubbish AND YOU KNOW IT, etc

jareds knife/spear, gotta be a top ten i reckon
along the same lines THE BAG, virtually essential, but wo invented it a man or a woman?

Pulley & lever i like

[NatrlBornThrllr]

Originally posted by Mikey
So, I just read through this thread and thought of something.

Mathmatics.

That tops electricity, bar none.
Without it, nothing structured would ever exist.

And you can't use the argument that it wasn't invented, unless you also take away electricity. It may not have been invented, but it was applied in such a way to benefit us tremendously (just like electricity).

Good call, I agree. And it was invented, to an extent. It's a language, like English or Spanish or German. 2+2 didn't always equal anything, because the symbol "2" and the word "two" didn't mean anything to anyone. Of course the concepts were always out there...but the guy who first thought up the idea of converting mathematical ideas into language had the biggest impact on our world (him, and all mathematicians after him).

In regard to the constant claims that electricity isn't an invention...I'm referring to the devices invented that man used to harness electricity. Do I seriously have to spell out my every thought for you? Apparently so. I'll be sure to painstakingly elaborate my every idea from here on out, as if I were explaining a complex issue to a partially deaf 5-year old. :rolleyes:

-JP

[Michael Fornal]

So.. I win! Woohoo!
I'm so smart for thinking of that.

[Trent Steel]

Originally posted by NatrlBornThrllr
Good call, I agree. And it was invented, to an extent. It's a language, like English or Spanish or German. 2+2 didn't always equal anything, because the symbol "2" and the word "two" didn't mean anything to anyone.

-JP
ok, the symbol 2 was never always around. But if caveman Ug has a club, and his caveman friend Thug has a club. They have two clubs combined. Regardless if they didn't know how to count.

[NatrlBornThrllr]

You're totally stretching things, though. The idea of an applicable mathematical language did not exist until somebody thought it up...just like the idea of a printing press did not exist until somebody thought it up. Sure, they had two clubs, even if they didn't know what two was. But that was of no use until somebody created a mathematical language...and that language is what helped advance society, not the essense of math itself. Math, like electricity, is nothing unless you can develop (see also: invent) a way to use it. The invention of a way to harness mathematics (ditto for electricity) is what we're discussing, not mathematics (or electricity) itself.

There are numerous mathematical forumulas that haven't been discovered yet. Assuming pi is a definite number, it hasn't been discovered yet, so it can't be put to any practical use. So even though this definite number for pi might exist, and has always existed...it's useless until somebody invents a way to discover it, harness it, and put it to practical use. The latter is the brilliant creation, not the number itself.

-JP

[AssMaster]

I wish I would have been around when this thread was going on. Seemed like a good one. JP you seem to really like electricity. I do to, electricity kicks ass. But you said something along the lines that people could not sugest fire because it has been around forever(ex. lighting strikes a field..boom fire. But I contend that electricity would in the same category as fire (ex. Lighting period, static electricity, ect...). So you say that when you contended that electricity, or the applications that harness it are the greatest inventions. You go on to point out that all the other great inventions rest on the shoulders of electricity. But would electricity have ever been created if people had not learned to harness fire? Correct me if I am wrong but was not electricity first primary use in a light bulb? The light bulb was basically just a more effiecient and usefull candle or oil lamp, was it not? So would electricity have ever been harnessed, if fire was not harnessed first? So would that not make fire a greater invetion then electricity. Since it seems that the discovery of electricity, depends to an extent on fire? Plus, no mathmatics were required when fire was first harnessed.

-KW

[HRslammR]

i'm gonna have to agree and say the printing press. because it increased the amount of knowledge available.

i really think the internet will do today what the printing press did at the time, that is further society based on previous knowledge

[hondata]

i'll chime in with

the toilet paper cardboard roll piece
and
Q-tips

[flychick]

correction, cotton swabs...unless u are ONLY talking about QTIPS the brand. heh

[hondata]

Originally posted by flychick03
correction, cotton swabs...unless u are ONLY talking about QTIPS the brand. heh

watch me and make sure you can hear the music. (http://www.stickmansteve.com/movies/files/movie.htm?Classic_Auto_1.mov)

[flychick]

Originally posted by !@#$%
watch me and make sure you can hear the music. (http://www.stickmansteve.com/movies/files/movie.htm?Classic_Auto_1.mov)
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[flychick]

What was it?

[AssMaster²]

Originally posted by !@#$%
watch me and make sure you can hear the music. ('http://"http://www.stickmansteve.com/movies/files/movie.htm?Classic_Auto_1.mov"')
I hate you. :(

[Trent Steel]

Originally posted by flychick03
What was it?
what is your e-mail address. i have it saved on my hard drive

[hondata]

there was no sex in that vid.

[Trent Steel]

Originally posted by !@#$%
there was no sex in that vid.
flychick, you wanted to see a video clip like this...you said so in some other thread.

[goolsby]

this is probly more on the line of discoveries but i believe language is