Mankind's greatest achievement?

boyfalldown said:
reading and writing. Without those none of the other things in this thread could of happened
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Surely that is part of human evolution rather than an "achievement"?

If you go along those lines then learning to breath air has to rank quite highly :lol:
 
My serious contribution to this thread would be for mathematics.

In terms of a tool to further our understanding of the world in which we live, I don't think anything else can come close.
 
To add to WD40 above, duct tape.

Without duct tape and WD40, the world would have fell apart or seized up long ago!
 
Russ77 said:
Surely that is part of human evolution rather than an "achievement"?

If you go along those lines then learning to breath air has to rank quite highly :lol:
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no evolution would be things like 'walking upright'. Writing lets you share knowledge. None of these other things are possible without it ;)
 
boyfalldown said:
no evolution would be things like 'walking upright'. Writing lets you share knowledge. None of these other things are possible without it ;)
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Nope reading and writing is all part of evolving... becoming better.

Neither are an invention as such...
 
Lynton said:
Nope reading and writing is all part of evolving... becoming better.

Neither are an invention as such...
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Technically the question was for our greatest achievement, not our greatest invention :)
 
freecom2 said:
DFS sale?
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Whilst it's not a great achievement, the DFS sale is rumoured to be one of the few things that would survive nuclear armageddon.
 
The birth of Nikola Tesla and Bucky Fuller.
 
Lynton said:
Nope reading and writing is all part of evolving... becoming better.

Neither are an invention as such...
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if you're taking that approach everything in this thread is 'evolution'. The ability to share knowledge is, IMHO, key to everything else.

Course its not evolution in the way say opposable thumbs are
 
there is a whole chasm between evolving and inventing / discovering
 
Lynton said:
there is a whole chasm between evolving and inventing / discovering
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I'm not disagreeing. But writing is an invention. Like everything else in this thread
 
How about man's greatest underachievement? Otherwise known as Brussels Sprouts!!!!
 
Russ77 said:
So was talking then.....
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its an opinion as to the greatest invention ever.

But the invention of writing is not evolution. In the same way as say feathers, the differing beaks of the Galapagos finches, opposable thumbs, walking upright etc etc etc are. Maybe you'd be good enough to quote a reference or two that refer to it as evolution.

Heres a few that refer to it as invention (which it was)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_writing#Invention_of_writing

http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/MUS/ED/TRC/MESO/writing.html

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/cuneiform.html

it might be an old invention, but its still an invention
 
boyfalldown said:
its an opinion as to the greatest invention ever.

But the invention of writing is not evolution. In the same way as say feathers, the differing beaks of the Galapagos finches, opposable thumbs, walking upright etc etc etc are. Maybe you'd be good enough to quote a reference or two that refer to it as evolution.

Heres a few that refer to it as invention (which it was)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_writing#Invention_of_writing

http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/MUS/ED/TRC/MESO/writing.html

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/cuneiform.html

it might be an old invention, but its still an invention
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You can't believe everything you read on the internet ;)

You are of course entitled to you opinion, I just don't agree with it.......
 
If the thread is about 'achievement', then presumably its neither evolution or invention/discovery but the application of those concepts?
 
AndyB1976 said:
If the thread is about 'achievement', then presumably its neither evolution or invention/discovery but the application of those concepts?
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Discovering and harnessing electricity (my original suggestion) is quite an achievement in my book :D
 
Russ77 said:
You can't believe everything you read on the internet ;)

You are of course entitled to you opinion, I just don't agree with it.......
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especially if you don't agree with it..........go on, if you insist its evolution post a reference :)
 
Russ77 said:
If I must......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_writing
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confused now - point 1 on the table of contents 'The Invention of Writing'

Screen-Shot-2012-09-06-at-21_26.jpg


and from that section

"It is generally agreed that true writing of language (not only numbers) was invented independently in at least two places: Mesopotamia (specifically, ancient Sumer) around 3200 BCE and Mesoamerica around 600 BCE."

How does that refer to it as an evolution. Its an invention. :D
 
boyfalldown said:
confused now - point 1 on the table of contents 'The Invention of Writing'

Screen-Shot-2012-09-06-at-21_26.jpg


and from that section

"It is generally agreed that true writing of language (not only numbers) was invented independently in at least two places: Mesopotamia (specifically, ancient Sumer) around 3200 BCE and Mesoamerica around 600 BCE."

How does that refer to it as an evolution. Its an invention. :D
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And if you went a little further....

In the history of how systems of representation of language through graphic means have evolved in different human civilizations, more complete writing systems were preceded by proto-writing, systems of ideographic and/or early mnemonic symbol.
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Russ77 said:
And if you went a little further....
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so writing 'evolved' in the same way the motor car or any one of a thousand inventions has 'evolved' or improved then then, but its getting a little silly now. don't want to devolve into an arguement (did you see what I did there) ............
 
The introduction of the caravan.... :cool:
 
The development of the transistor :)
 
Greatest achievement has to be .............






getting my Mrs to shut up for half and hour.....
 
All the argument about writing and so on is kinda funny, as I previousy said we'd all still be sitting in huts sharpening our flint arrows had we not developed agriculture around 8000 years (or so) ago. And after that, if Newcomen hadn't had his brain wave about atmospheric pressure acting upon a piston in a partial vacuum in a cylinder, non of the later inventions or developments you've all mentioned would have occured - certainly none of the technological advances like transistors or internal combustion engines (or rather, 'heat transfer engines' as they ought to be referred to)

As for Tesla someone mentioned earlier. He was doubtless one of our greatest geniuses and there is no telling how his ideas influenced other in the field of AC current and wireless communication. However, with relevance to the thread title, he personally achieved very little. As I said he did influence others but not many of his inventions were at the time attributed to him, he never made any money out of them long term and he died virtually pennyless and in obscurity. Whereas he was extremely famous at one point this soon faded. Personally I'd view that as a failure - not on his part as he was treated badly by his financial backers (mainly Edison, who discredited him and ripped him off), but by mankind. We could have made better use of his genius. I think it wasn't until the 1960's that anyone even bothered to acknowledge the things he did.
 
While we're discussing individual inventions - what about Rudolph Diesel and his work with the compression ignition engine?

These days you'd be forgiven for thinking the diesel engine as it's more commonly known is not all that important, but at the time, 1897, it gave us a viable alternative to the steam engine. The petroleum engine was around but it had a very low efficiency, the steam engine had at best a 30% efficiency. The diesel had around 70% efficiency and it was a massive leap forward.

Diesel committed suicide in 1913 (or so it is thought, he boarded a ship and was never seen again) and so never saw the impact of his invention. However it soon became apparent that his engine was in a league of its own when it came to moving anything over distance, the invention allowed for much more efficient contruction machinery and for smaller power generation. The influence on modern life is incalculable.
 
Carlo said:
sanitation
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caught the last part of this programme last night;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01kxyhd/The_Toilet_An_Unspoken_History/

not something i would have set out to watch but very interesting.
40% of the worlds population do not have access to a toilet! they literally sh** in the street, then walk in their/other peoples homes, flies land in it then on food
horrific really, more people dying every year from diarhoea than malaria and lots of other diseases that i can't remember put together!
so yes, sanitation is my nomination. :clap:
 
Carlo said:
caught the last part of this programme last night;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01kxyhd/The_Toilet_An_Unspoken_History/

not something i would have set out to watch but very interesting.
40% of the worlds population do not have access to a toilet! they literally sh** in the street, then walk in their/other peoples homes, flies land in it then on food
horrific really, more people dying every year from diarhoea than malaria and lots of other diseases that i can't remember put together!
so yes, sanitation is my nomination. :clap:
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I'm not disagreeing with you here, but look at it in a different (and slightly inhuman way)

If we solved this problem entirely, then a LOT less people would die in the world. This may sound good and yes it is in the obvious way. But then the world population is way too big even now and if things carry on the way they are doing it will not be very long before we are all in the doodar. Right now we do not produce enough food (for a start) for everyone alive, and it's only going to get worse. As we solve each one of these natural barriers to population growth we are in fact digging our own grave. That could then be viewed as mankinds biggest mistake.

Just a thought. Not sure how I personally stand on the issue.

Edit - just realised I've discounted my own nomination of agriculture. Around 8000 years ago the UK poulation has been estimated at around 5000 individuals. Worldwide population approx 1 million. Farming was what allowed our species population to explode.
 
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the transistor......imagine life without it - you wouldn't be here doing this for a start....
 
Ste Manns said:
What good is a logic gate if you're out 23 hours foraging for food and dying of old age by 30? :thinking:
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What good is all that extra idle time if you don't have ways of filling it?

Honestly, I think it's a slight fool's errand to make the case for a single revelation that's changed things for mankind more than any other. There have been so many discoveries, inventions and refinements that have all revolutionised our lives and our understanding of the world around us it would be impossible to say one was greater than all others.
 
TriggerHappy said:
What good is all that extra idle time if you don't have ways of filling it?

Honestly, I think it's a slight fool's errand to make the case for a single revelation that's changed things for mankind more than any other. There have been so many discoveries, inventions and refinements that have all revolutionised our lives and our understanding of the world around us it would be impossible to say one was greater than all others.
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Well the point is, after agriculture people had the time to do other things, they didn't beforehand. Everything we've mentioned so far came after, not before agriculture. That's why I nominate it. There would be no civilisation as we know it (there is evidence beginning to surface that suggests we did have some forms of civilisation beforehand, for instance Gobekli Tepi) and none of the inventions we now take for granted. Not even the wheel. Writing would not have developed to what it quickly became.

I do agree with your second point. I've tried to point out that there is no real 'greatest' achievement or invention, it's just been a constant stream and even minor blips of achievement (like Rudolphs engine) had massive effects. The transistor started out as an obscure idea that two japanese fella's developed and shrank down, just so they could produce a portable radio. They had no idea it would become what it did, or indeed what their tiny backroom company, Sony, would become.

Has anybody mentioned penicillin yet? How about radio and later, radar? Probably not the greatest but certainly important. How about (since we started with space exploration) Voyager, which remains the only man made object to have left our solar system (not counting radio waves)

You could argue, the single greatest achievement was when we left Africa as this forced us to change to adapt to new environments.
 
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For me the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming in 1928 it has saved so many lives in the world..
 
Ste Manns said:
What good is a logic gate if you're out 23 hours foraging for food and dying of old age by 30? :thinking:
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you mean like the Indians in the Amazon who still live the same way as stone age man? except we wouldn't be here talking about it without the transistor :P
 
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