# Fire 'em out - The Biggest Ideas Ever! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 28, 2006, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-em-out-the-biggest-ideas-ever/346502 "2006-02-28T19:55:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-em-out-the-biggest-ideas-ever/346502/1 "2006-02-28T19:55:10Z")
Here’s the question/poll: **What are the biggest ideas ever?** That is, in the history of the world, what are the most controversial, the most influential, the most important ideas ever developed? If you had to tell a classroom of third graders that a number of ideas were the “biggest ideas” ever, which ideas/concepts would you choose? By way of example, here’s a couple that would make my cut: 1. The Theory of Relativity 2. Nonviolent Resistance a la Gandhi / Dr. King Thoughts? - Peter Wiggen — thread fine print — - This thread has shades of GD in it (especially given the imprecision of the terms I’m using). I’m dropping it into IMHO, but it could quickly lapse into debating. Mods, feel free to move as necessary. - I picked IMHO because I’m trying to avoid a knock-down nit-pick over the wording I’ve used. Yes, biggest is dramatically imprecise. Yes, the exact meaning of idea is unclear in this instance. But I’m looking less for arguments on those topics than a brainstorming session with the Teeming Millions. - Finally, to avoid another predictable bogdown/debate, please minimize religious debate. I realize that the teachings of Jesus/Buddha/Mohammed/etc. are massive ideas which are extremely important in human history. Please list them if you feel they apply to this list. I just want to keep the ideas flowing without undue debate. — end thread fine print — ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-em-out-the-biggest-ideas-ever/346502/2 "2006-02-28T19:58:58Z")
1. Fire good. 2. Round things roll. 3. Fermentation good. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-em-out-the-biggest-ideas-ever/346502/3 "2006-02-28T20:03:04Z")
Monotheism. Law and jurisprudence. The notion of time and its accurate measurement. That’s a start, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-em-out-the-biggest-ideas-ever/346502/4 "2006-02-28T20:03:23Z")
Writing good. Reading good. Math good. ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-em-out-the-biggest-ideas-ever/346502/5 "2006-02-28T20:08:13Z")
Containers for food (baskets or pockets). With these, a female could gather food for her family but be able to free her hands to attend to her children while the male went hunting for meat. She could also gather enough food for more people or to last for days or even weeks. This improved the diet, made more food available and increased survival of infants. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-em-out-the-biggest-ideas-ever/346502/6 "2006-02-28T20:34:54Z")
See you guys are all coming up with inventions/discoveries (fire and wheels) not really ideas. I don’t know if this speaks to the OP’s original intent, but given his examples, I’m thinking he means more along the lines of the suggestions of **Mr Mojo** ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-em-out-the-biggest-ideas-ever/346502/7 "2006-02-28T20:41:12Z")
Ok, ok. Are you ready for this? This is great. I mean a really great idea. **Coffee stir sticks with spoony things on the end!** I notice stir sticks never mix in all the sugar properly. You can stir forever and then you’re drinking your coffee and you suddenly hit sugar sludge at the bottom. THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN. If stir sticks had spoony things at the end it would mix the sugar in properly. That is all. ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-em-out-the-biggest-ideas-ever/346502/8 "2006-02-28T20:42:46Z")
“If I make specific sounds, you eventually gather meaning from them.” “Hey, I can make marks that represent those sounds and keep them around.” I don’t think any other big idea is quite so big without spoken and written language. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-em-out-the-biggest-ideas-ever/346502/9 "2006-02-28T20:48:06Z")
My hands hurt from hitting that guy. Plus he always hits me back. What if I used this stick to hit him instead? ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-em-out-the-biggest-ideas-ever/346502/10 "2006-02-28T20:50:21Z")
I’m gonna go with instant replay. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-em-out-the-biggest-ideas-ever/346502/11 "2006-02-28T20:54:56Z")
> [@USCDiver](#): > > See you guys are all coming up with inventions/discoveries (fire and wheels) not really ideas. I don’t know if this speaks to the OP’s original intent, but given his examples, I’m thinking he means more along the lines of the suggestions of **Mr Mojo** :smack: Yes, **USCDiver** is correct. Ah, the difficulty of imprecise terminology. Anyways, by biggest “idea,” I meant something less tangible than inventions. I agree that behind every good invention, there’s a good idea. But I’m thinking more along the lines of things like monotheism or nonviolent resistance than the wheel or instant replay. - Peter Wiggen ---
**Author:** ![Bertie\_Wooster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/58f4c7/32.png) [@Bertie\_Wooster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bertie_Wooster)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-em-out-the-biggest-ideas-ever/346502/12 "2006-02-28T21:05:35Z")
Natural causes rather than evil spirits as the cause of illness. ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-em-out-the-biggest-ideas-ever/346502/13 "2006-02-28T22:50:14Z")
How about Charles Darwin on evolution? ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-em-out-the-biggest-ideas-ever/346502/14 "2006-02-28T23:06:36Z")
Beer. ---
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-em-out-the-biggest-ideas-ever/346502/15 "2006-02-28T23:21:56Z")
> [@Amazon Floozy Goddess](#): > > Ok, ok. Are you ready for this? This is great. I mean a really great idea. > > **Coffee stir sticks with spoony things on the end!** > > I notice stir sticks never mix in all the sugar properly. You can stir forever and then you’re drinking your coffee and you suddenly hit sugar sludge at the bottom. THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN. If stir sticks had spoony things at the end it would mix the sugar in properly. That is all. McDonalds stirring sticks look like miniature canoe paddles. I’ve always held them up as the pinacle of discardable stirring technology. My big idea: The development of the scientific method. (Not arguing about how many teeth a horse should have based on scripture or guesswork but opening a horse’s mouth and actually counting them). ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-em-out-the-biggest-ideas-ever/346502/16 "2006-02-28T23:22:45Z")
The one idea that has caused the most trouble for humanity is the notion that something happens to a person after death. Another idea that seems to have caused humans a great deal of difficulty is that of cause and effect. There must be a third idea. It seems to follow from the first two. ---
**Author:** ![vinniepaz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@vinniepaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vinniepaz)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2006, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-em-out-the-biggest-ideas-ever/346502/17 "2006-03-01T03:10:53Z")
The little first down line on NFL games. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2006, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-em-out-the-biggest-ideas-ever/346502/18 "2006-03-01T03:15:07Z")
Biggest and maybe worst Idea. Religion should be organized. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2006, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-em-out-the-biggest-ideas-ever/346502/19 "2006-03-01T03:32:49Z")
If some of us stay back at the cave while others of us hunt and gather, we can protect the cave, cook the food and raise the offspring while the best hunters and gatherers go out and get more food for the rest of us. In other words, society and the division of labor. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2006, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-em-out-the-biggest-ideas-ever/346502/20 "2006-03-01T07:39:09Z")
…arguably just as important as the idea of Relativity is Newton’s stuff, like force = mass x acceleration, Newton’s ideas on gravity, et cetera. …as obnoxious as politics can be, the idea that playing the politics game is still better than trying to influence thy neighbor by blowing up his family. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-em-out-the-biggest-ideas-ever/346502.md?page=2)