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What's your favorite invention and/or discovery in human history and why?

Itoero

By Itoero
in Other Sciences

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The Shadow

The Shadow

Posted
Posted (edited)

Fire!

Provides warmth and sterilizes food before consuming. Also, Indian tribes in the USA used fire for communication...they sent smoke rings into the air above (by flapping a piece of cloth or canvas over the fire).

Edited by The Shadow
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Curious layman

Curious layman

Posted
Posted

More of a engineering marvel than a invention I think, but the space shuttle. 

Remember the first time I saw it in space as a teenager....wow, incredible, just blew me away.

Watching it lift off and seeing the astronauts inside, and thinking about what it would be like used to amaze me. Still does. Easily the best job in the world.

R.I.P space shuttle :-(

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dimreepr

dimreepr

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Posted
10 hours ago, npts2020 said:

I say language. It is what has facilitated the passing of all other inventions from generation to generation and allowed the communication of abstract ideas.

Printing was more effective, because it's more consistent and more inclusive; language changes over time, whereas printing is a snapshot in time of language and available to all rather than just your neighbour.

 

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zapatos

zapatos

Posted
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3 minutes ago, dimreepr said:

Printing was more effective, because it's more consistent and more inclusive; language changes over time, whereas printing is a snapshot in time of language and available to all rather than just your neighbour.

 

Language does not imply "spoken". Surely if you are printing something available to all you are talking about printing language rather than printing pictures.

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dimreepr

dimreepr

Posted
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1 minute ago, zapatos said:

Language does not imply "spoken".

No, but it does imply communication...

4 minutes ago, zapatos said:

Surely if you are printing something available to all you are talking about printing language rather than printing pictures

Of course, but the difference is "available to all"; if spoken or written manually (or otherwise communicated) it's limited to those with access to the speaker, communicator or "book". Printing allows anyone who wants access to the communicator, has access to the information.

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zapatos

zapatos

Posted
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30 minutes ago, dimreepr said:

No, but it does imply communication...

Of course, but the difference is "available to all"; if spoken or written manually (or otherwise communicated) it's limited to those with access to the speaker, communicator or "book". Printing allows anyone who wants access to the communicator, has access to the information.

I was simply pointing out that when you said "printing was more effective (than language)" you seem to have missed the fact that what they were printing was LANGUAGE.

'Printing', like computer screens, radio, vocals, and talking books, is just a method for disseminating the 'language'. 

It might make sense to say 'printing' was more effective than radio or vocals, but 'printing' is not an either/or comparison with 'language'. That's like saying "roasting" is more effective than 'food'.

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dimreepr

dimreepr

Posted
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25 minutes ago, zapatos said:

I was simply pointing out that when you said "printing was more effective (than language)"

Your building a house of straw... 

I simply said printing was more available.

15 minutes ago, zapatos said:

Right over your head...

;)...

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dimreepr

dimreepr

Posted
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20 hours ago, zapatos said:

Are you really that obtuse or just incapable of conceding a point?

I think we're both guilty of that; and deliberately talking past each other. In this context it's the old chicken and egg question. 

But I still defend my point, which is, printing is more effective at disseminating information to the mass' than language alone; there are many different languages, but if printing evolved with language maybe we'd all be speaking the same one.

And lets not forget how quickly human advancement grew after the Gutenberg press was invented, as compared to when language evolved.

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The Shadow

The Shadow

Posted
Posted
On 12/31/2018 at 3:38 AM, MigL said:

Fire.
I like my food cooked. 

I agree with fire. It provided warmth where none existed. It provided light when there was only darkness. It sterilized food when needed. It cauterized wounds which would not stop bleeding. It offered communication over large distances (smoke signals over omnidirectional miles). Enhanced destruction capabilities of weapons (eg, flaming arrows).

Fire was significant in multiple ways for sure!

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