this post was submitted on 29 Apr 2024
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Asklemmy

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I don't know if this counts, but I'd say the Enlightenment. It was a discovery in that we discovered a new way to interpret the world.

I think there is kind of a glass ceiling when you talk about fire, plumbing, electricity and so on. Each one was a necessary stepping stone to get us where we are, but without any one of them, we wouldn't be here.

The Enlightenment gave us a brand new sense of autonomy as a species, which in turn has given us a greater amount of control over "Destiny."

[โ€“] MxM111@kbin.social 5 points 6 months ago (2 children)
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[โ€“] Lumisal@lemmy.world 5 points 6 months ago

Not the just important invention, but definitely the best invention: plumbing.

Y'all try going a week without running water and wiping with leaves or newspaper and you'll quickly see that while other things are definitely important, plumbing is the best to have

[โ€“] Seraph@kbin.social 5 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Sliced bread. Before sandwiches what was the point?

[โ€“] xmunk@sh.itjust.works 4 points 6 months ago

Delicious drippings, stews and gravies on hunks of bread.

The sandwich was a downgrade.

[โ€“] degen@midwest.social 5 points 6 months ago

Screw the running water and antibiotics. I don't need no machinery or amenities, give me cheese!

Computers are cool though

[โ€“] BeigeAgenda@lemmy.ca 5 points 6 months ago

I'm not sure about the greatest invention but the second greatest is sliced bread!

[โ€“] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 5 points 6 months ago

Written language. It lets us speak to people across time.

[โ€“] bruhduh@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago

Electricity

[โ€“] JSens1998@lemmy.ml 4 points 6 months ago

Microwave. Being able to heat up a hot pocket in just minutes is legendary.

[โ€“] potentiallynotfelix@lemmy.ml 4 points 6 months ago

I believe argiculture and trade were massive parts of history

[โ€“] _lilith@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

The ability to shape steel. Sounds basic but blacksmiths make the tools for everything else.

[โ€“] Turd_Ferg@sh.itjust.works 4 points 6 months ago

The Tamagotchi - for obvious reasons.

[โ€“] altima_neo@lemmy.zip 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

The microwave.

Can you imagine having to cook every night?

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[โ€“] moe93@lemmy.ml 3 points 6 months ago

The wheel and the derivatives of the circular shape in general; they powered all human innovations from abstract mathematics to real life applications and everything in between.

Medicine. Would be right fucked without it

[โ€“] KingThrillgore@lemmy.ml 3 points 6 months ago

Literature, Writing, Written Word. If we couldn't document and share ideas, we'd be nowhere.

[โ€“] Phegan@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago

The printing press. It allowed us for the first time to share knowledge at a scale we only dreamed of.

[โ€“] phpinjected@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 6 months ago

Electricity

[โ€“] Decency8401@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Copper. Because without copper, most of the named things wouldn't be possible to create!

[โ€“] lazynooblet@lazysoci.al 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

But was copper an invention

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