Inventions

[Mara]

What invention (let's exclude the pc and electricity for this one) could you least do without? Or, in other words, what's the most important invention used today that you couldn't live without.

For me, it's the microwave. I couldn't eat without it. :):

[RHooks]

Flushing toilet. And by extension, toilet paper.

:lol:

[RangerRick]

The typeset.

I enjoy reading and that is the one thing that would be hard to come by if it wasn't for that.

I could learn to live without a car, tv, computer, electricity or phone.

And Mara, without electricity, that microwave is good for squat! :lol:

[Mara]

Hehe, no, I meant not to choose electricity or the pc for your invention. They are givens! I have to have my microwave!

[Feuerwizard]

The cellular phone :p:

[RangerRick]

Hehe, no, I meant not to choose electricity or the pc for your invention. They are givens! I have to have my microwave!

That's really cheating, but ok, what will you plug the microwave into? :p:

[Mara]

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

[RangerRick]

The cellular phone :p:

Without microwaves, your cell phone is cooked!

[NotSoFast]

That's really cheating, but ok, what will you plug the microwave into? :p:

She didn't mean that there would be no electricty, just that you could not choose it as the thing you could not do without.

I say automobiles. Without them I would have to walk 15 miles each way to work. There would essentially be no large cities as it would take forever to get from one part of town to another.

[RangerRick]

She didn't mean that there would be no electricty, just that you could not choose it as the thing you could not do without.

I say automobiles. Without them I would have to walk 15 miles each way to work. There would essentially be no large cities as it would take forever to get from one part of town to another.

Someone had to invent the socket to 'plug' the microwave into, and it has to have some way of getting to where you live! :wink:

And without the wheel or engine, your car just won't have any get up n go! :joker:

[0x64657200 0x6A61636B616C00]

beer.

[MasterChief]

cars

[Gary V.]

Blow up..oh, sorry, for a sec there I thought this was the risque lounge.

Prilosec.

[Gaim Mastr]

I knew what my answer was before I finished scrolling down the replies.

I'm with Jackel on this one.... beer. :cheers:

[Terry Penrod]

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I could easily live without cellphones, pagers and all such instant communication annoyances, uh... devices. Refrigeration / canning / freezedrying / etc. for storing and preserving a whole world of foods and beverages convenietly, safely and cheaply year 'round however would be awfully hard to live without these days - as would the automobile in our highly mobile, spread-out society - especially here in a huge major city that has virtually zero viable mass transit system.

An extension of refrigeration that also comes in might handy where I live (during at least half the year) is air conditioning. And since it is a part of the greater HVAC systems we all rely on, it is another great invention that most of us use all year long at home, at work, when shopping, in our cars and practically everywhere else - yet we take it for granted most of the time.

Conversely, IMO one of the most trivial modern inventions that so many people use at home every day of their lives and pack wherever they go is the common electric hairdyer.

Cheers, Terry

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[Cougar]

the toilet would probably be easy to go without cause then u could go and crap outside in the woods and accidently wipe urself with poison ivy.. :lol:

but the one invention that i think would be the hardest to live without would be the invention of running water?

[Terry Penrod]

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P.S.

Man did not "invent" fire, electricity, fossil fuels, solar energy, hydro energy, wind energy, nuclear energy or a wide array of other naturally occuring things. He discovered them and then simply found ways to harness, store, augment, channel and use them to our mutual (and sadly sometimes non-mutual) advantage.

Cheers, Terry

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[Shardos]

can't think of anything lol, I'd probably be perfectly happy living in the woods somewhere hunting deer with pointy sticks......
okay maybe bows

[Terry Penrod]

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can't think of anything lol, I'd probably be perfectly happy living in the woods somewhere hunting deer with pointy sticks......
okay maybe bows

Even then, helping to abate the sometimes life threatening, seasonal effects of severe heat and cold would still be vital to your existence, productivity and comfort. So would efficient methods for curing, preserving and storing all that yummy venison and other foostuffs for the off season.

But first you'd need a way to shoot, catch or trap your dinner. Therefore, a good bow and arrow, spear and/or sharp sturdy knife would become your most crucial tool / weapon.

Cheers, Terry

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[Ojnod]

A/C, I hate heat!

[Meigger]

The Chocolate Chip cookie.

[Gary V.]

Meigger, I figured you would've said eyepatches or peglegs.

[Terry Penrod]

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The Chocolate Chip cookie.

Now THAT's an honest answer.

Cheers, Terry

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[Meigger]

Meigger, I figured you would've said eyepatches or peglegs.

Nope. My tummy comes first.

[Kalbrecht]

Another vote for alcoholic beverages

[DanTheManPR]

Nope. My tummy comes first.

Not even your hook?!?!

http://www.portroyaltradingco.com/images/pirate/hook.jpg

[Ravanor]

Hardest to live without: Caffeine
Easiest: Mobiles, alarms, anything that makes annoying beeping sound of any kind really. :P:

[DanTheManPR]

We can't list electricity or computers? Those are the two things I can't live without...

[Eddie Ismail]

I think aside from the given, I don't think any invention is that nessecary.
and BTW for a whole month and a half I had to bike for 25-40 mile every day from and to work and school

[Terry Penrod]

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We can't list electricity or computers? Those are the two things I can't live without...

Evidently, Mara thought they were just too obvious.

But I do like the indoor plumbing idea. It really was a major advancement for mankind in so many ways big and small.

In a similar discussion many years ago back in Annapolis, Maryland, a good friend of mine produced a list from (I believe) Scientific American of Mankind's 100 Greatest Inventions.

Fire, electricity, etc. were disqualified by the editor's criteria simply because we did not "invent" - only discovered / harnessed them. However all subsequent inventions that are used to generate, channel and employ those and other naturally occuring phenomenon were allowed as were all forms of human communication, manned flight, ground and sea transport, medicines, chemical, architectural, structural, engineering and other disciplnes as well as a huge variety of more specific machines, processes, systems, etc. including computers.

Their choice at that time?

Paper


Cheers, Terry

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[Tavo]

Fake blondes with fake boobs that walk around in my university. You might think they are not an invention, but since they all appear to come out of a factory because they all dress the same, look the same, speak the same, and think the same (this last one is an overstatement, I shall say electrical impulses instead of thinking), I believe they are an invention.

If there are many blondes out there reading, remember that I said the ones in my university. I like blondes that hang out here.... I don't wanna get stoned... aAH!

[Cloudw4lker]

Not even your hook?!?!

http://www.portroyaltradingco.com/images/pirate/hook.jpg
I swear I have that exact hook!


I can't live without not living without something :)


but seriously I think it'd be a cookie of some sort, I have these cookies that are half vanilla and half chocolate with the oreo stuff inside and they're really cheap and I eat like 20 a day... or in 1 sitting. That and I need milk for my cookies.

[Feuerwizard]

the toilet would probably be easy to go without cause then u could go and crap outside in the woods and accidently wipe urself with poison ivy..

:lol: :lol:

[TWC_Orgazm]

Thongs :)

[Chylde Roland]

Nope. My tummy comes first.

:lol:

For me, it would be the computer, and the electricity I need to run it...

er... put that book down, Mara! *ouch!* :crazy:

ok, ok... beer!

:drink:

[Rob]

Trust me, I wish I lived without a cell phone. Being a manager of 6 locations makes it a necessity, but the cell phone has stolen my life. Automobiles... same thing in some regards. I am almost 25 and still do not have a license. With my job that is becoming necessary so I will eventually get one, but even now I walk to work, used to walk to school, etc.

When Donjo said A/C I almost seconded that, but figured I could move back to Washington St and not have to worry about it (as much). So, the best invention would have to be language so we could communicate with one another.

Because if it were not for language, I could not cuss and scream after getting another stupid call on my cell phone, then tell my wife we have to drive 200 miles to a location and to turn on the AC because it is so freaking hot outside!

[Terry Penrod]

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Trust me, I wish I lived without a cell phone. Being a manager of 6 locations makes it a necessity, but the cell phone has stolen my life. Automobiles... same thing in some regards. I am almost 25 and still do not have a license. With my job that is becoming necessary so I will eventually get one, but even now I walk to work, used to walk to school, etc.

When Donjo said A/C I almost seconded that, but figured I could move back to Washington St and not have to worry about it (as much). So, the best invention would have to be language so we could communicate with one another.

Because if it were not for language, I could not cuss and scream after getting another stupid call on my cell phone, then tell my wife we have to drive 200 miles to a location and to turn on the AC because it is so freaking hot outside!


Because of the crucial importance of a common language, Scientific American voted Paper as the single most significant invention in human history and I tend to agree.

First spoken in grunts and gesticulations, crudely scratched on cave dwelling walls, developed as heiroglyphic symbols and eventually organized into a set formal oral languages, it finally evolved onto a hand-chisled form of communication with a formal alphabet and numbers. But until the advent of paper, mass copies and portability were simply impossible and archives were very problematic / inaccessible to 99% of all people on earth.

Paper finally allowed man to capture all of his greastest thoughts, his designs, laws, history, literature, art, music, philosophy, theology and much more - even his most private thoughts of love for another and his last will and testament for his heirs. It led directly to all subsequent forms of formal communications including the printing press and eventually to near global literacy. Although that seems to have lagged a bit of late, nevertheless, if it were not for paper, we never would have had the method to accomplish all the above.

It was as they say a pivotal concept in the development of the species perhaps unequalled by any other before or since. It's impact is still being felt every day by virtually every person alive and will continue to do so for as long as we record ideas and communicate amongst each other. Paper was and is far more than just a sheet of papyrus or goatskin, it stood for the entire movement of the dissemination of information, news / journalism, shared teaching / learning tools, formal contracts, books of every kind, written history and even creative growth.

Cheers, Terry

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