# The most important invention **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 13, 2001, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-important-invention/65281 "2001-05-13T03:18:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![galen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecc23a/32.png) [@galen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-important-invention/65281/1 "2001-05-13T03:18:44Z")
What do you think was the one single most important invention? I think that it has to be James Watt’s steam engine. Up until then, most power was literally horsepower. With the invention of the steam engine, fire could be converted into mechanical power. Everything else has flowed from that. ---
**Author:** ![PaperBlob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@PaperBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaperBlob)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-important-invention/65281/2 "2001-05-13T03:58:05Z")
Money. ---
**Author:** ![shell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/46a35a/32.png) [@shell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shell)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-important-invention/65281/3 "2001-05-13T04:01:50Z")
The printing press. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-important-invention/65281/4 "2001-05-13T04:11:01Z")
Magnetic compass ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-important-invention/65281/5 "2001-05-13T04:11:18Z")
Language. ---
**Author:** ![Atreyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-important-invention/65281/6 "2001-05-13T04:13:57Z")
I nominate the wheel. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-important-invention/65281/7 "2001-05-13T04:17:53Z")
KY ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-important-invention/65281/8 "2001-05-13T04:19:51Z")
Computers. The effects that they’ve had on our society so far are just the tip of the iceberg. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-important-invention/65281/9 "2001-05-13T04:21:12Z")
This thread makes me want to run out and read Boorstin’s “The Discoverers” yet again. ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-important-invention/65281/10 "2001-05-13T05:08:22Z")
Well, sliced bread sure gets a lot of credit. Almost everything, at one time or another, has been credited with being the greatest thing since it. Personally, I think it’s the printing press. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-important-invention/65281/11 "2001-05-13T05:13:40Z")
Sex ---
**Author:** ![Trucido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@Trucido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trucido)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-important-invention/65281/12 "2001-05-13T05:21:21Z")
I’d have to say agriculture. All of the other inventions listed would be impossible without it. Even language would not be so widely useful without the concentration and specialization made possible by agricultural production of food. HOWEVER, I’d also have to say that it’s really ridiculous to reduce something so complex as the forward march of technological progress to one greatest invention. That’s like saying a specific muscle cell in in my big toe is the most important cell in my body. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-important-invention/65281/13 "2001-05-13T05:26:19Z")
Toilet paper. Definitely toilet paper. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-important-invention/65281/14 "2001-05-13T06:17:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Trucido \* > \*\* I’d have to say agriculture. All of the other inventions listed would be impossible without it. Even language would not be so widely useful without the concentration and specialization made possible by agricultural production of food. > > HOWEVER, I’d also have to say that it’s really ridiculous to reduce something so complex as the forward march of technological progress to one greatest invention. That’s like saying a specific muscle cell in in my big toe is the most important cell in my body. \*\* Although agriculture is the key componant that makes civilization possible in that it allows for specialization and division of labor, I would say that technological growth would also not be possible without language. It’s a tough call between these two. A college class (World History) that I was in was once asked to list and defend the top 10 inventions in human history. Agriculture was number 2 on my list, although the instructor threw out my top four (language, agriculture, religion, and mathematics) as not being invented, but rather developed. I can see her point with math, (I would now consider it a discovery rather than an invention) but the others I still maintain were invented. ---
**Author:** ![Trucido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@Trucido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trucido)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-important-invention/65281/15 "2001-05-13T06:35:08Z")
Must disagree on Agriculture vs. Language, but I think mathematics is definitely invented. It’s an artificial system to model physical reality. You can have different math systems that still give you the same answer. Don’t mistake numbers for anything more than symbolic of a physical property… Sorry for the hijack… kinda had to say that. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-important-invention/65281/16 "2001-05-13T06:55:51Z")
Paper. The beginning of the information age. The gentleman who invented was named Ts’ai Lun. A greater invention than even the printing press, I’d argue. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-important-invention/65281/17 "2001-05-13T07:19:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Trucido \* > \*\*Must disagree on Agriculture vs. Language, but I think mathematics is definitely invented. It’s an artificial system to model physical reality. You can have different math systems that still give you the same answer. Don’t mistake numbers for anything more than symbolic of a physical property… > > Sorry for the hijack… kinda had to say that. \*\* This debate is currently going on in GD. I would say that an artificial system to model physical reality is a language. The language of mathematics was invented, yes, but it is still a language. And you didn’t say who you disagreed with on Agriculture vs. language. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-important-invention/65281/18 "2001-05-13T07:32:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bill H. \* > \*\*Paper. > > The beginning of the information age. The gentleman who invented was named Ts’ai Lun. A greater invention than even the printing press, I’d argue. \*\* In a book I once read listing the 1000 most influential people in history, Ts’ai Lun was #1 for this very reason (Jesus was #2). ---
**Author:** ![Mercutio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Mercutio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mercutio)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-important-invention/65281/19 "2001-05-13T09:00:42Z")
The internet. How else would we be able to have all this? [sub]Bless you, Al Gore! ::sniff::[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Amedeus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Amedeus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amedeus)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2001, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-important-invention/65281/20 "2001-05-13T10:13:18Z")
Mathmatics [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-important-invention/65281.md?page=2)