what do you think the top 5 inventions are?

[Lacero]

Surprising no one mentioned sanitation, which was my first choice.

Before the invention of the toilet and sewer systems, mankind lived essentially in filth, dying young of disease and other good stuff. All the later inventions couldn't be possible if people were dying in their early 30s.

All this filth definitely made sex less enjoyable or downright disgusting, so global population increases for all of humanity up to that point was stagnant. Only sanitation and the industrial revolution did we see explosive growth in population and technology.

 

[anonymous161]

in·ven·tion (n-vnshn)
n.
3. A mental fabrication, especially a falsehood.

Let's see, top five:

1. Normal
2. Intelligent Creationism..er, Design
3. Buying American
4. Freedom
5. Democracy
HM: Equality

 

[jayscheuerle]

1) wheel
2) lever
3) plow
4) gunpowder
5) God

 

[jayscheuerle]

People of Ben Franklin's generation discovered electricity. People of Thomas Edison's invented it.

Ben Franklin was the first to make the connection between electricity and lightning (he invented the lightning rod!), though the French were the first to prove his theory (before he did his kite experiment) and thought him a God because of it. He was very highly revered there.

 

[jefhatfield]

I disagree,a weight loss pill would be a terrible idea.

Surely if you give a bunch of fat people a pill that allows them to lose weight there's no incentive to stop stuffing huge amounts of food into their mouths. A weight loss pill with no side effects is a nice idea but wouldn't necessarily combat heart disease etc. that you've mentioned and if I'm right would just make matters worse for many (myself included). How many people would eat more if they didn't have to worry about their weight and what pressure would that put on food supplies?

good points

there are definitely thin heart disease victims, but taking out obesity from the equation would still have a good overall effect on heart disease

 

[jayscheuerle]

good points

there are definitely thin heart disease victims, but taking out obesity from the equation would still have a good overall effect on heart disease

So would taking the obese out of the equation!

 

[tiny_101]

1. Electricity!
2. The Internet
3. Phones
4. Sushi =P
5. Can't think of another one...

 

[macEfan]

Let's see, top five:

1. Normal
2. Intelligent Creationism..er, Design
3. Buying American
4. Freedom
5. Democracy
HM: Equality

what do you mean by normal?

do you mean perfectly ok, fitting in, etc?

 

[StarbucksSam]

I could live without a microwave. Tack airplane up there, why don't ya?

 

[Guitarius]

Toilet Paper
Birkenstocks
Guitar
iBook
Air Conditioning

'Nuff Said.

 

[mpw]

good points

there are definitely thin heart disease victims, but taking out obesity from the equation would still have a good overall effect on heart disease

I could be wrong but what I meant was that the 'bad stuff' in a McWhopper is still going in and will still surely coat the innards of my arteries even if I'm thin. Or does this wonder drug prevent the absorption of the McWhopper which then begs the question of what else it'll prevent getting into the body, vitamins etc??

Rather than take a drug it’d be better to stop putting McWhoppers into you body, but of course that wouldn’t fly with a consumer society as well as the extra consumption of crap that the consumption of this wonder drug would allow/promote.

 

[jefhatfield]

I could be wrong but what I meant was that the 'bad stuff' in a McWhopper is still going in and will still surely coat the innards of my arteries even if I'm thin. Or does this wonder drug prevent the absorption of the McWhopper which then begs the question of what else it'll prevent getting into the body, vitamins etc??

Rather than take a drug it’d be better to stop putting McWhoppers into you body, but of course that wouldn’t fly with a consumer society as well as the extra consumption of crap that the consumption of this wonder drug would allow/promote.

please don't mention mcwhopper...it is making me hungry...and i already ate dinner

a male, in the united states, born in 1963 like i was could expect to live to a ripe 67 years old (half of us make it to that point and half don't)

when i first saw that statistic for a late baby boomer like me, i thought it was a little on the low side, but then i found out about things like diabetes, stroke, cancer, and heart disease

going to my 20th high school reunion was a real eye opener

my best friend, 70 pounds overweight, had a heart attack at just age 33 and he likes junk food, obviously more than me

if junk food, smoking, and drinking heavily were not such a big part of our culture (western culture), the life expectancy of my generation would be better for sure

 

[2nyRiggz]

1. WOMEN!
2. Beer
3. Macs
4. light and all that goes with it
5. Woman!

HM: music is i cant get through a day without it

 

[rickvanr]

I'm a little late to this one, but no one thinks the abacus was a very important invention? I'd say that, the wheel and fire are the top three.

 

[jefhatfield]

I'm a little late to this one, but no one thinks the abacus was a very important invention? I'd say that, the wheel and fire are the top three.

for its impact, i believe the abacus was more revolutionary than the modern pc

but i also think that radio and tv were and are more relevant than the pc, and mac, too

but i fix computers for a living part time so i see all the bad things about the darn little buggers, and i was once one of those optomistic/futuristic people who thought the field of accounting and taxation would be demolished due to computers and that shopping malls would be shut down coast to coast due to the computer (with online shopping and the internet), and i thought news organizations would not have to deliver newspapers and magazines anymore, and that telecommuting would close down business for major office building complexes, and so on and so forth

 

[mpw]

...the field of accounting and taxation would be demolished...that shopping malls would be shut down coast to coast...news organizations would not have to deliver newspapers and magazines anymore...telecommuting would close down...business for major office building complexes, and so on and so forth

And that you being optimistic? I'd hate to hear you being pessimistic, I think it would be very depressing.

 

[jefhatfield]

And that you being optimistic? I'd hate to hear you being pessimistic, I think it would be very depressing.

we could all get our news online and save paper

we could shop online and not have to get into our gas guzzling and polluting cars and go to the mall

we could save money and not have to pay accountants to do our taxes and payroll because some "program" could make it easy for the average joe

more people could work from home and be with their families more

...and computer geeks like me can be...he he...masters of the new universe

computers would be, in essence the new "radio" or "tv"

well, so much for future predictions like those which i heard over and over through the decade of the 90s and not seeing them come true...that and i don't think microsoft windows becoming the major platform helped the computer reach its potential either

there could still be a heyday for computers but it was mostly fluff in the end and a lot of people lost money hedging on a more wired and computerized future

 

[jefhatfield]

here's the short list of companies i thought would rule the world

...as quoted in many a business magazine

webvan.com...the obvious choice for our most important basic needs

cisco...which at one time in the dot.com era surpassed microsoft in valuation

theman.com...the future of "cool" on the web and the model of dot.coms to come

amazon.com...the future of book and music sales

napster.com...the new leader in the music industry

...and people put their life savings on believing that companies like these would replace the old brick and mortar

 

[iHateWindows]

1. iMac G5 rev. B
2. 5G 60 GB iPod
3. Steve Jobs
4. Power Mac G5 Quad
5. InvisibleSHIELD

 

[DakotaGuy]

1. the wheel
2. electricity
3. the tractor and implements (would be hard to feed everyone if we were still using horse teams.)
4. the automobile
5. the computer