Happy Atheist Forum

After six months deployed halfway around the world from my family, I feel I can say the best invention ever is Skype.  Used to be we got one or two calls per week to home that lasted about five to ten minutes.  Now, I can get on the internet any day of the week, and videochat with them!  It's awesome!  It is why I say, even if they find a way to get cheap, efficient, clean energy from controlled clashes of matter and antimatter, Skype will still be the greatest invention ever.

What is your greatest invention ever?

Quote from: "fester30"After six months deployed halfway around the world from my family, I feel I can say the best invention ever is Skype.  Used to be we got one or two calls per week to home that lasted about five to ten minutes.  Now, I can get on the internet any day of the week, and videochat with them!  It's awesome!  It is why I say, even if they find a way to get cheap, efficient, clean energy from controlled clashes of matter and antimatter, Skype will still be the greatest invention ever.

What is your greatest invention ever?

Written language. Without writing humanity can not accurately record and later disseminate knowledge. Without it we would live in a linguistic 'ground hog day' perpetually reinventing the ideas of the previous generation and not being able to build on that learning, which would make progress impossible. Without the written word we could not 'stand on the shoulders of giants.' as Newton put it. Imagine trying to remember and disseminate quantum theory or special relativity without the written word. It would be impossible.

I would also rate Skype as a magnificent use of technology, but with a webcam!

Ye ol' humble plow... And the wheel. Must not forget the wheel.

Being half blind I would have to say glasses are the greatest invention ever.

Quote from: "Cecilie"Being half blind I would have to say glasses are the greatest invention ever.

Yeah... Forgot about that...  

*add to list*

Quote from: "Tank"Written language. Without writing humanity can not accurately record and later disseminate knowledge. Without it we would live in a linguistic 'ground hog day' perpetually reinventing the ideas of the previous generation and not being able to build on that learning, which would make progress impossible. Without the written word we could not 'stand on the shoulders of giants.' as Newton put it. Imagine trying to remember and disseminate quantum theory or special relativity without the written word. It would be impossible.

I would also rate Skype as a magnificent use of technology, but with a webcam!

Ahh see but with Skype I don't need the written language anymore to get through to my wife long distance.  Skype wins!

Quote from: "Cecilie"Being half blind I would have to say glasses are the greatest invention ever.

My wife would say that the following could only come from my mind but...
Glasses could be the greatest for two reasons.  One would be yours, of course (good call because I wear glasses).  But glasses also can MAKE you blind... in a good way.  No really... follow me for a moment on this.  Okay.  So, you're at a bar, and there's an average or even ugly member of the opposite sex that seems to be trying to talk to you.  Your first inclination might be to shoo this person away like the dog they are, but then you may have shooed away your only chance at some action later that night.  Your other option is to drink about ten GLASSES of beer and just enjoy the fact that the person was attractive while you were getting it on.  In our case, they might even be attractive in the morning if we left our other glasses on the nightstand.

Quote from: "fester30"

Quote from: "Tank"Written language. Without writing humanity can not accurately record and later disseminate knowledge. Without it we would live in a linguistic 'ground hog day' perpetually reinventing the ideas of the previous generation and not being able to build on that learning, which would make progress impossible. Without the written word we could not 'stand on the shoulders of giants.' as Newton put it. Imagine trying to remember and disseminate quantum theory or special relativity without the written word. It would be impossible.

I would also rate Skype as a magnificent use of technology, but with a webcam!

Ahh see but with Skype I don't need the written language anymore to get through to my wife long distance.  Skype wins!

Ahh but you see without the written word, to record and disseminate knowledge, Skype could never have existed. Gutenberg wins!

Quote from: "Cecilie"Being half blind I would have to say glasses are the greatest invention ever.

I didn't know that. Short sighted?

Quote from: "Tank"

Quote from: "Cecilie"Being half blind I would have to say glasses are the greatest invention ever.

I didn't know that. Short sighted?

Yep.

Quote from: "Tank"Ahh but you see without the written word, to record and disseminate knowledge, Skype could never have existed. Gutenberg wins!

Touche!

Then again you could say the same about the computer.  It's like saying you can't say the car is the greatest, because it wouldn't exist without the wheel or the engine.  People who invented the wheel or letters couldn't have known what they were getting themselves into, therefore inventing letters doesn't definitely lead to Skype.  When man invented metallic wire, the telephone wasn't exactly inevitable.

Draw?  naa you win, because even with Skype I still write my wife a letter a day (I'm a romantic sap).

Quote from: "fester30"

Quote from: "Tank"Ahh but you see without the written word, to record and disseminate knowledge, Skype could never have existed. Gutenberg wins!

Touche!

Then again you could say the same about the computer.  It's like saying you can't say the car is the greatest, because it wouldn't exist without the wheel or the engine.  People who invented the wheel or letters couldn't have known what they were getting themselves into, therefore inventing letters doesn't definitely lead to Skype.  When man invented metallic wire, the telephone wasn't exactly inevitable.

Draw?  naa you win, because even with Skype I still write my wife a letter a day (I'm a romantic sap).

Well the title is Greatest Inventions (plural) so we could go for the top 100.

I'd argue that the lens was one of the greatest inventions/discoveries ever. It lead to spectacles, microscopes and telescopes. Using glass to distort the visible element of the electromagnetic spectrum allowed humanity to discover it's place in the cosmos in a way it had never truly appreciated before. The microscope revealed the world of the microbe, the true owners of Earth, and heralded the explanation of one of the main causes of disease. The telescope revealed just how unimportant humanity is in a universal sense. It reined in our ego a little and created a perspective on time and our real place in the universe. But both combined to show us that there was a lot more out there to discover than we could ever have imagined. The humble lens widened our horizons from the parochial to the near infinite.

Quote from: "Tank"Well the title is Greatest Inventions (plural) so we could go for the top 100.

Here is a top 10 by importance, but not sorted, as I see it, inventions and discoveries, good and bad:

Wheel
Alphabet (written language)
Penicillin
Plow (More generally, organised farming)
Clothing
Metallurgy
Gunpowder
God
ICE
Printing press

Quote from: "Asmodean"

Quote from: "Tank"Well the title is Greatest Inventions (plural) so we could go for the top 100.

Here is a top 10 by importance, but not sorted, as I see it, inventions and discoveries, good and bad:

Wheel
Alphabet (written language)
Penicillin
Plow (More generally, organised farming)
Clothing
Metallurgy
Gunpowder
God
ICE
Printing press

Took a moment to figure out ICE but I would agree. But then surly salt and food preservation would be the generalised discovery?

Quote from: "Tank"Took a moment to figure out ICE but I would agree. But then surly salt and food preservation would be the generalised discovery?

Internal combustion engine. Being too lazy to type it out just leads to needing to clarify... And me, I never learn

Personally, I'd lump food preservation with organised farming, but yes, a valid point.

Quote from: "Asmodean"

Quote from: "Tank"Took a moment to figure out ICE but I would agree. But then surly salt and food preservation would be the generalised discovery?

Internal combustion engine. Being too lazy to type it out just leads to needing to clarify... And me, I never learn

Personally, I'd lump food preservation with organised farming, but yes, a valid point.

I would agree with the ICE, but one should also add the gas turbine or simply a turbine to that. And not to forget the electric generator/motor and electric light.

... anyone mention Plumbing or Sewers (aqueducts?)

Quote from: "joeactor"... anyone mention Plumbing or Sewers (aqueducts?)

That right there. Throw in water filtration and irrigation while at it.

Fire.

More specifically the controlling of fire. It can be argued that humanity's insides and outsides are the way they are because food was cooked over fire and warmth was provided by it.

Is it a stretch to call it an invention though?

Music is the greatest invention ever; without it, the rest wouldn't amount to much.

Quote from: "hismikeness"Fire.

More specifically the controlling of fire. It can be argued that humanity's insides and outsides are the way they are because food was cooked over fire and warmth was provided by it.

Is it a stretch to call it an invention though?

Fire's more of a discovery... but I'd argue that controlling and creating it could fall into the invention category...

Your top ten list obviously forgot Skype, which should easily replace clothing.  Trust me, the best webcam conversations are often missing clothing!
On a more serious note, how about the ability to control and use electricity?  Obviously we didn't invent electricity, but when we learned to control and use it, we were able to develop things like lightbulbs, radios, circuit boards, Las Vegas, and porn movies.

You had to have non written language before written.
Clothes, steeling other critters skin has been useful.
Multitudinous uses of sticks (wiggles cricket bat).
Agriculture.

Hmm...I'd go one step further than Skype and say the Internet in general. A 1000 years from now, what will students in school be learning about our times? What will they be called?

Answer: The Communication Revolution.

Never in recorded history have humans been able to communicate as effectively as we can today.

Quote from: "fester30"Your top ten list obviously forgot Skype, which should easily replace clothing.  Trust me, the best webcam conversations are often missing clothing!
On a more serious note, how about the ability to control and use electricity?  Obviously we didn't invent electricity, but when we learned to control and use it, we were able to develop things like lightbulbs, radios, circuit boards, Las Vegas, and porn movies.

You know, where I sit, clothes are somewhat more important since they contribute to me not dying of hypotermia before I can even log on Skype.  

Quote from: "Asmodean"

Quote from: "fester30"Your top ten list obviously forgot Skype, which should easily replace clothing.  Trust me, the best webcam conversations are often missing clothing!
On a more serious note, how about the ability to control and use electricity?  Obviously we didn't invent electricity, but when we learned to control and use it, we were able to develop things like lightbulbs, radios, circuit boards, Las Vegas, and porn movies.

You know, where I sit, clothes are somewhat more important since they contribute to me not dying of hypotermia before I can even log on Skype.  

Not that where I live is very cold, but this.

Quote from: "Cecilie"Not that where I live is very cold, but this.

I wrote my response while smoking on the balcony with laptop in one hand and smokes in the other and the temperature of about -5 Celsius all around.  

Quote from: "Asmodean"

Quote from: "Cecilie"Not that where I live is very cold, but this.

I wrote my response while smoking on the balcony with laptop in one hand and smokes in the other and the temperature of about -5 Celsius all around.  

It's 4 degrees here.

thats obvious.  Internet for without it facebook, google, twitter, online business, and the list goes on and on!!!

The greatest invention ever is...boobies!  

But no, seriously, I'd have to say it's probably language/communication.

Quote from: "Tank"Written language. Without writing humanity can not accurately record and later disseminate knowledge. Without it we would live in a linguistic 'ground hog day' perpetually reinventing the ideas of the previous generation and not being able to build on that learning, which would make progress impossible. Without the written word we could not 'stand on the shoulders of giants.' as Newton put it. Imagine trying to remember and disseminate quantum theory or special relativity without the written word. It would be impossible.

Almost word-for-word the response I was going to give when I saw the thread title.

Quote from: "hackenslash"

Quote from: "Tank"Written language. Without writing humanity can not accurately record and later disseminate knowledge. Without it we would live in a linguistic 'ground hog day' perpetually reinventing the ideas of the previous generation and not being able to build on that learning, which would make progress impossible. Without the written word we could not 'stand on the shoulders of giants.' as Newton put it. Imagine trying to remember and disseminate quantum theory or special relativity without the written word. It would be impossible.

Almost word-for-word the response I was going to give when I saw the thread title.

This fire breathing robotic horse.

(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi972.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fae202%2FBornOfDust_2009%2F6.jpg&hash=ef0be1bb87694703a27d197c2000997b03622816)

Quote from: "ForTheLoveOfAll"This fire breathing robotic horse.

(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi972.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fae202%2FBornOfDust_2009%2F6.jpg&hash=ef0be1bb87694703a27d197c2000997b03622816)

FTLOA wins
/thread

Quote from: "elliebean"

Quote from: "ForTheLoveOfAll"This fire breathing robotic horse.

(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi972.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fae202%2FBornOfDust_2009%2F6.jpg&hash=ef0be1bb87694703a27d197c2000997b03622816)

FTLOA wins
/thread

Score!  

The harnessing of fire.

While I know it's not an invention technicly neither is figuring out a round rolling shape reduces friction and increases the weight you can haul AKA the wheel. The ability to use fire took use from being cold and dirty primitive people barely above apes in development, to a species that has the ability to remake nature as they needed. New foods and tools the ability to be warm in cold climates (like most places not in Africa) to push back the dark and scare away the predators that must have consummed our ancesters with fear every night of their lives. The ability to heat water to purify it, or boil out salt for use, or burn the land to encourage new growth or a wall of fire to scare a large herd right where you want them for larger amounts of food. Soap how long do you think is was before some fat dripped in lye rich ashes and someone notices how well it cleaned? Glass ever build a fire on the beach? One of the first "elements" was fire, primitive Physisics and Chemestry helped come about from pondering our early tool. Ect Ect Ect. Without that first step of fire absolutly nothing we have now could have been acomplished. I can think of nothing that does not come eventually to fire if you look for a "why".

Even the written word my number 2 invention would never have come about without the security and lessiure a that fire brings.

Just my $.02

Soda can tab.  Yeah that's right.  I said what you all think, but cannot say.

I would like to change my previous answer to "BBQ Potato Chips". That is all.

Indoor plumbing. Trust me. Its indoor plumbing, until you've shat outside in the snow.

The bicycle.  It's quick and reliable and cheap and environmentally friendly and fun.
Vaccination, sanitation, contraception, communication are pretty essential, but my bike is an item that I own and maintain, and is elegant, and functional.

Lots of good choices in this thread. I haven't read all of it, but here are some that may or may not have been mentioned previous:

Wikipedia. It's got to be said... the pooling of the world's knowledge is pretty big.
Wolfram Alpha. Still early, but could be huge.
Hydraulics. Big time important to build big things.
Telescope/Microscope. Both opened up huge new wings of the science museum.
Spork. BOOM
WiFi/Bluetooth. I couldn't have my current computer set up the way it is without both.

The camera!
I cherish my memories enstilled in photographs so very  much.
It's an incredible invention with many benefits.

Maybe the butt, or a sink? :o I also think the sandwich format is particularly cunning, as it does not necessarily call for the use of utensils.

Quote from: rawrdog822 on February 16, 2011, 07:49:31 AM
Soda can tab.  Yeah that's right.  I said what you all think, but cannot say.

The tab is good, true, but the fact that the can itself is not solid saves manufacturers a tremendous amount of overhead; the hollow space is better than the tab, because it does not threaten one's budget vacuum cleaner like tabs do when discarded post-consumption.

Quote from: original_gender on June 01, 2011, 05:28:51 PM
Maybe the butt, or a sink? :o I also think the sandwich format is particularly cunning, as it does not necessarily call for the use of utensils.

Ye but fruit does a similar thing, and it keeps longer.
Maybe it's not an invention though.
How about a stick I use to knock an orange out of a tree?
Hmm, that might not be seen as invention either.
How about if I knock a few unhelpful rough bits of my stick?
Yes the domesticated stick, saviour of mankind.

Quote from: The Magic Pudding on June 02, 2011, 12:38:39 AM

Quote from: original_gender on June 01, 2011, 05:28:51 PM
Maybe the butt, or a sink? :o I also think the sandwich format is particularly cunning, as it does not necessarily call for the use of utensils.

Ye but fruit does a similar thing, and it keeps longer.
Maybe it's not an invention though.
How about a stick I use to knock an orange out of a tree?
Hmm, that might not be seen as invention either.
How about if I knock a few unhelpful rough bits of my stick?
Yes the domesticated stick, saviour of mankind.

It can also be useful to threaten those damn kids down the street making all the noise with their rock music.  In a pinch, you can burn it for heat to cook food, or to use as a torch to light your way in the darkness. 

Diet pepsi. I can envision entire civilizations revolving around it...

The iPhone

Another essential for the spread of written communication: paper.

Quote from: Nimzo on June 12, 2011, 09:53:01 PM
Another essential for the spread of written communication: paper.

I agree, but more specifically, the printing press.  it allowed the dissemination of information whihc forever weakened the Catholic church's hold over people's minds.

Quote from: palebluedot on July 15, 2011, 02:03:04 PM
the printing press. 

I concur.

Quote from: palebluedot on July 15, 2011, 02:03:04 PM

Quote from: Nimzo on June 12, 2011, 09:53:01 PM
Another essential for the spread of written communication: paper.

I agree, but more specifically, the printing press.  it allowed the dissemination of information whihc forever weakened the Catholic church's hold over people's minds.

To take it another step foward, after the printing press, long distance communication. Telegrams, telephones and internets. A global civilization would surely not exist without fast information transfer.

I think you're probably quite right.