warrrreagl

I'm thinking of human inventions, here. Which do you think are the best and worst, and why?

My candidate for Best Invention is the Internet. Obviously, I was going to say "the collander," but the Internet itself hijacked what I typed and inserted itself. Seriously, I am continually amazed at the applications and remaining potential for human benefit from the Internet.

My candidate for Worst Invention is television. Grancey and I were sitting outside Sunday afternoon, and I remarked that it was sad to think of the millions of people sitting indoors at that moment watching TV instead of experiencing life. I blame TV for a lot of social inactivity that plagues Americans.

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Living is easy with eyes closed.

snowy

It's beautiful outside but here I am, stuck on the Internet

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If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jetée

Of course this thread springs up now, not even a day afterwards. Why else wouldn't it? (my coincidence monster speaking)

"Do you want to know the greatest and worst device that humans have invented?

It's Television. Television controls people by bombarding people with information until they lose sense of reality. Now television itself has become a new religion. Television has created a people who believe instantly in dramatic fantasies and can be controlled by tiny dots of light."


It's sensationalism has created a population of fanatics and apathetics, entwined.

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As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world (that is the myth of the Atomic Age) as in being able to remake ourselves.

—Mohandas K. Gandhi

Grasshopper Green

My son is home sick today with strep throat. I'm going with antibiotics. I don't know if that counts as a "human" invention since it's a biological thing, but I'm voting for it anyway.

Worst? Thong underwear.

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"They say that patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings; steal a little and they throw you in jail, steal a lot and they make you king"

Formerly Medusa

Baraka_Guru

Best: language, specifically writing — it can be credited for vaulting humanity into organized civilization.

Worst: atomic weapons — something that capable of widespread destruction should not have left our imaginations.

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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Jetée

Really? There were organized civilizations thousands of years before the first alphabet appeared, and still then civilizations were bustling the world over before the creation of what we now know as parchment paper.

The only thing that generational-static writing might have helped vault is the recoginition that these cultures existed, and that they were smart (better fit word: "aware") enough to utilize it to preserve their history throughout the ages.

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As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world (that is the myth of the Atomic Age) as in being able to remake ourselves.

—Mohandas K. Gandhi

Baraka_Guru

They didn't likely do it without language though.

It should be noted that writing allowed for more widespread and complex organization, especially when you consider nation building.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

fresnelly

Wheel and Axle, obviously.

Heck, all of the simple machines that make our lives easier: Lever, Screw, inclined plane etc...

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Building an artificial intelligence that appreciates Mozart is easy. Building an A.I. that appreciates a theme restaurant is the real challenge - Kit Roebuck - Nine Planets Without Intelligent Life

Gina_

Those are good and to that list I would add roads. They are pretty basic, but I'm reminded of how wonderful they are after walking in the woods or mountains. They make traveling any distance much easier.

MoonDog

Best Invention: Domestication of animals/Development of agriculture in roughly 15,000-10,000 B.C.

Worst Invention: If I remember correctly, some famous French guy once wrote that humanity's worst inventions were love and gunpowder :P

Xerxys

You people! You ungrateful people!! WC and Toilet Paper Trump EVERYTHING!! Imagine. Just imagine, anything else in place of these? These are timeless effects. Anything else just feels weird.

Without these Language would all be centered on the the degree of how stinky things are. And life would evolve on making the bathroom experience more comfortable! So, I submit to you, WC toilet and Toilet paper! Best inventions ever.

Worst? I dunno, I pretty much like TV, insomniacs pay great tribute to paid programming.

MSD

Best: the simple machines, medicine, agriculture, language, the scientific method, the Internet, buffalo sauce, birth control (all types,) beer, I could go on for pages.

Worst: I'm not sure. Probably religion.

Jetée

Timeless? We've only had each invention in its current form for the past 100 years or so.
There was no toilet paper during the Civil War, nor were indoor washrooms really apparent in the majority of homes until after WWII.

Holes in the ground and your left hand are still used in a majority of the world that you are just unaware of...

But, I do see your point, and I give you kudos.

One for the win column: the rise and ubiquitousness of filtered, 99.7% pure, drinkable water.

One that can be debated as an utter travesty (or just complete and elementary brilliance): free speech.

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As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world (that is the myth of the Atomic Age) as in being able to remake ourselves.

—Mohandas K. Gandhi

Grancey

Television? Seriously? There would be no "Lost", and no one would have seen The Beatles on Ed Sullivan. And you would have missed the Tivo of that bald newscaster who came on the air with his reading glasses on top of his head.
If not for my childhood obsession with television I would have grown up with a southern accent. So for TV, I am grateful.
Best invention: Central Air & digital cameras
Worst invention: super glue

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Quiet, mild-mannered souls might just turn out to be roaring lions of two-fisted cool.

Fremen

I'm going to pick refrigeration as the best invention.

It's allowed us to transport food over vast distances for longer periods of time without spoiling over much.
Allowed us to keep fresh food in our kitchens longer without all of the old preservation techniques.
It's really good at keeping my Pudding Pops nice and cold, too.


The worst man-made invention?
Clowns!!
Search your feelings. You know it to be true.

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Google

Idyllic

Best Invention: Fermentation

Worst invention: Feermmennennenttatzion...... hiccup.

Welcome to my Love/Hate relationship

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you can tell them all you want but it won't matter until they think it does

p.s. I contradict my contradictions, with or without intention, sometimes.

Stare At The Sun

Best - Electricity
Worst - Nuclear weapons

Fire

Best - Nuclear weapons- yes, those, because without the massive threat they posed, the cold war would not have spawned the the development of literally thousands of great things we now have, the space race would not likely have happened, giving us about a bazillion other great things, and the internet itself would also.... not be here....

worst- reality tv..... its just that dumb.....

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Thought the harder, Heart the bolder,
Mood the more as our might lessens

Jetée

Yeah, nuclear weapons have barely hurt anyone. Only a very small percentage of people have even been killed by one. People die more often from pigeon attacks, or falling coconuts, than from a nuclear strike (or nuclear radiation fallout from military testing grounds). Certainly not the worst invention ever; maybe the worst imaginable scenario if the inventions of them were use to their full potential - yes, that is indeed grim.

another best / worst deal: the invention of the robot (and all that entails if it is ever given suffice sentience). The idea of a robot is worse the reality of them, really, as the best that they do is manufacture your cars, your clothes, and the grocery store food that you eat.

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As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world (that is the myth of the Atomic Age) as in being able to remake ourselves.

—Mohandas K. Gandhi

Xerxys

Trust me, I am very aware of the world you speak of. I am very well cultured. But toilet tissue paper is timeless. Not in it's age, but it's undying practicality and ...erm ... application. I believe it is a commodity that will remain unchanged for longer than even the English language itself!

kramus

Best invention - I have to go with the wrap. Using the hide of your kill to gather up the bits you want to take back to your shelter is a step. Keeping that hide around and finding ways to make it last instead of rotting and being an insect magnet is another step. Using the wrap to keep the wind and rain off of you and the kiddies, keeping you warm and happy, and allowing you to carry surplus veggies back to the shelter - huge step. I think it possibly predates fire, and is so impactful I can't imagine all the ramifications.

Worst invention? My vote is for negative attribution. The creating of a bad story to fill a perceived void of knowledge about something or someone. The beginnings of the "bad stranger", the "alien" or the "weird family two caves down". That has led to more grief, ignorance, unending nasty shit, death, pain and hatred . . .

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And now to disengage the clutch of the forebrain ...
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Lindy

I'll go with Baraka on language, specifically writing, for its ability to convey information and/or ideas to another person in a different place or time. I'd put music as a close second. Music is far less important in a practical sense, but I believe it is a higher form of expression.

For the worst, I nominate industrial agriculture, because that is what has enabled us to so incredibly overpopulate the planet. Overpopulation is, in the long run, far harder to control than atomic weapons.

Lindy

lurkette

Well, there's "best," and there's "most useful," and there's "most influential" and they're all slightly different things. It's hard to argue with the utility of simple machines like screws and levers and wheels, but it's also hard to argue with the sheer game-changing awesomeness of the internet. I'm gonna say language doesn't even get to play, it's in such a category by itself. And who of us would not be here without antibiotics? *raises hand*

That said, I'm going to argue for an unglamorous choice: public sanitation. Maybe it's because I've read way too many books about the misery of Victorian London and the revolution that modernized sewers created. The invention of modern public waste has made living in a city of any size livable and clean.

Worst: Billy Bass. Serves no purpose, is not amusing, is not aesthetically pleasing, contributes nothing to the human experience. How many of those things are rotting (or worse, not) in landfills? I mean, really.

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"If ten million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing."

- Anatole France

Idyllic

lurkette, my kids would put a pox on you if you messed with their "billy fish", "Don't Worry, Be Happy", Mon.


They actually "inherited" it from my late grandmother, yea, I find it kinda useless too, but man I love to hear their laughter, and it seems to persist in garnering their attention, and their little friends too.

p.s. did I mention without fermentation we would have all continued drinking unpurified water, not that mead and such was any better, well, yes it was, the natural rot killed all the bad stuff and gave us the good, hehehe.

---------- Post added at 10:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:41 AM ----------

Oh, and yes, my grandparents were rednecks too, just not the bigoted, ignorant kind...

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you can tell them all you want but it won't matter until they think it does

p.s. I contradict my contradictions, with or without intention, sometimes.

lurkette

LOL, Idyllic...

Well I'm glad someone is enjoying Billy Bass!

I come from a long line of rednecks myself. Maybe we're cousins

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"If ten million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing."

- Anatole France

Ananas

For the industrialized nations, it's indoor plumbing. Without it, the great cities we know of would not have come into being due to the threats of disease the filth would have presented.

The worst invention is organized religion, hands down. It has created more divisiveness, wars, persecutions, and utter misery throughout human history.

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it's gritty

Jetée

One could say the exact same thing for language.

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As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world (that is the myth of the Atomic Age) as in being able to remake ourselves.

—Mohandas K. Gandhi

5quarter

Best invention ... the antigravity machine

Gabbyness

Best: Over sized Burritos.

Worst: Indigestion.

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One, two, three, four, fiiiiiiiifth.

gaiatechnician

I made the pulser pump. "Simplest pump in the world" Even though it is simple, it took 20 years for someone else to make one and put the results on the internet. Whats that about?
A guy has a great video youtube ted talks, about lone nut and first follower. Worth taking a look at the video. dereksivers is the username of the guy who tells the story of the lone nut and first follower (I am not allowed to post links.
So anyway, i got the first follower about this time last year. A guy called Mat in Cornwall, England. First research results from real science went on appropedia in April 2010 and there are going to be field tests in California too!
So my message is that if you see someone doing something crazy (that just might work) do not sit on your backsides, get up and join in. You will make MORE and quicker difference that the lone nut ever did!
In my case, it took 20 YEARS for the first person to join. And the rest has been easy. But in those 20 years, my Da, 2 brothers and a close friend passed away. All those people took an interest and could have seen this happen in their lives if someone had taken a little step way back when.
So even scientists who knew from their training that my pump would work and about 80,000 ! people who saw video of mine working before Mat did couldn't bring themselves to leave the safety of the crowd of doubters and actually try make one or a model.
I think it is amazing just how cautious the herd of humans really is!
Brian

twiligh1720

best invention; Computers worst invention; Computers

G5000

Wait a second. You said the internet was the best invention, but then said people were stuck inside watching television?

---------- Post added at 01:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:23 PM ----------

Best inventions: The number zero, writing, the wheel, sanitation, vaccines, aqueducts, animal domestication, money, and agriculture.

Worst inventions: War, lying.

filtherton

I'm going to say mathematics is one of the greatest inventions (along with language).

The worst? Contemporary advertising.

telekinetic

Best invention: The scientific method
Worst: dogmatic religion

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twisted no more

raging moderate

I fucking love big-ass burritos.

I'd say the best invention might have to be clothing.

possibly the worst invention of all time would be nuclear weaponry. sorry to be cliche but damn I can't think of anything i'd like to have on the planet less than that. talk about mutual destruction...

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These are the good old days...



formerly Murp0434

Xerxys

To be honest, nuclear energy is what is used to create the weapon. If you can find a suitable dispersion mechanism then all you need is some energy to power it which is then found in waste form in many nuclear plants. The details, it's the details that matter. Bullets and guns don't kill people. Bullets and guns don't choose sides and hence are not evil.

noodle

Best: Technology to record and play music, computers, indoor plumbing and duct tape.

Worst: Love bugs, napalm, rubber cement, and that stupid screaming monkey that plays the cymbals.

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Lasereth

Worst: text messages

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"A Darwinian attacks his theory, seeking to find flaws. An ID believer defends his theory, seeking to conceal flaws." -Roger Ebert

Lindy

Right up there for best: the oral contraceptive pill

Right up there for worst: obnoxious ring tones
(and they're ALL obnoxious)

Lindy

james t kirk

Worst: Electric Leaf Blowers. And the internet, damn the internet and its addictive properties.