# Is America the greatest country on Earth, and why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 30, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-the-greatest-country-on-earth-and-why/626836 "2012-06-30T19:01:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-the-greatest-country-on-earth-and-why/626836/202 "2012-07-06T19:27:32Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > Depends. How many do we have to list to convince you Europe deserves substantial credit? And not just for computing, but also for science and technology as a whole? Just to name a few inventions of many, many: steam locomotives, internal combustion engine, cathode-ray tubes, world-wide-web, thermometer, alternating current, the bikini(!), digital calculator, surface torpedo, espresso machine, electric battery, the first microprocessor, asphalt, ejector seat. > > These are not insignificant things. These are _massive_, important things. And there are _so_ many of them. That’s just a teeny little snapshot. > > I won’t list scientific theories, because that list is just ludicrous! > > I’m not saying for a second that the US isn’t both prolific and important in this area; but that Europe cannot be dismissed. It, also, is very important. Edit: What **RNATB** said in the post immediately after yours. I missed that and responded needlessly 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-the-greatest-country-on-earth-and-why/626836/203 "2012-07-06T22:09:23Z")
Candyman, What country in Europe made the first microprocessor? IBM had a board level hybrid on the Apollo program in the 60’s. GI made the single chip serial differential processor in the late 60’s and Lee Boysel made the first Microprocessor at 4 Phase Systems in 1971. Where does Europe come in? And, what’s the criteria for the greatest nation? Education, literacy, technology, production, self sufficiency, average standard of living? How do you keep score. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-the-greatest-country-on-earth-and-why/626836/204 "2012-07-06T23:16:41Z")
> [@Crane](#): > > Candyman, > > What country in Europe made the first microprocessor? > > IBM had a board level hybrid on the Apollo program in the 60’s. GI made the single chip serial differential processor in the late 60’s and Lee Boysel made the first Microprocessor at 4 Phase Systems in 1971. Where does Europe come in? Yeah, not sure where I was pulling that one from. I think I had it in my head that the Intel 4004 was invented by an Italian. Or something silly like that. But I humbly withdraw it; and submit the humble pencil and radio communication in its place! > [@](#): > > And, what’s the criteria for the greatest nation? Education, literacy, technology, production, self sufficiency, average standard of living? How do you keep score. Exactly. That’s what we keep saying. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-the-greatest-country-on-earth-and-why/626836/205 "2012-07-06T23:19:11Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Yeah, but it’s not a country, as he said. The discussion isn’t whether the US is better than everyone else _combined_. It’s not a country, no, but it’s a comparision he made, and to which I responded. He brought up the “Europe doesn’t deserve equal, or almost equal credit” angle; I just happened to reply to it. But you’re correct in that this side-branch of the conversation doesn’t directly address the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-the-greatest-country-on-earth-and-why/626836/206 "2012-07-07T02:04:36Z")
Well, carry on then. ---
**Author:** ![al27052](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@al27052](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/al27052)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-the-greatest-country-on-earth-and-why/626836/207 "2012-07-07T04:17:29Z")
> [@Crane](#): > > Candyman, > > What country in Europe made the first microprocessor? > > IBM had a board level hybrid on the Apollo program in the 60’s. GI made the single chip serial differential processor in the late 60’s and Lee Boysel made the first Microprocessor at 4 Phase Systems in 1971. Where does Europe come in? I believe that Europeans made Linux. And that is the sum total of all they will ever contribute to IT, is my guess. Not that this has all that much to do with being the greatest country, anymore than winning the Superbowl makes the Saints the greatest athletes in the world, across all sports. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-the-greatest-country-on-earth-and-why/626836/208 "2012-07-07T06:17:25Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > It’s not a country, no, but it’s a comparision he made, and to which I responded. He brought up the “Europe doesn’t deserve equal, or almost equal credit” angle; I just happened to reply to it. Presuming the ‘he’ you’re talking about here is, in fact, me, I’ll have to take exception to your statement, I was responding to a post by **Lobot** which brought up the Europe angle. ---
**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-the-greatest-country-on-earth-and-why/626836/209 "2012-07-07T06:27:59Z")
You said that nothing “substantial” has been contributed to computing from outside the U.S. I was disputing that. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-the-greatest-country-on-earth-and-why/626836/210 "2012-07-07T06:35:17Z")
> [@Lobot](#): > > You said that nothing “substantial” has been contributed to computing from outside the U.S. I was disputing that. And, since I was responding to the OP, I was taking for granted the extension [by any country] outside the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![truthSeeker2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7cd45c/32.png) [@truthSeeker2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/truthSeeker2)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-the-greatest-country-on-earth-and-why/626836/211 "2012-07-07T07:01:12Z")
Not disputing American greatness, but just pointing out that a substantial percentage of people working for almost all major US computers companies are Indian. Having worked with Microsoft for example, I could guess that about one in three software developer was an Indian. Here’s an article: [http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-03-11/india/27751871\_1\_collaborative-research-indians-basic-sciences](http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-03-11/india/27751871_1_collaborative-research-indians-basic-sciences) ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-the-greatest-country-on-earth-and-why/626836/212 "2012-07-07T10:25:06Z")
> [@al27052](#): > > I believe that Europeans made Linux. > > And that is the sum total of all they will ever contribute to IT, is my guess. You’re joking, right? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-america-the-greatest-country-on-earth-and-why/626836.md?page=10)