# The top 5 worst things to ever happen **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 16, 2007, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-5-worst-things-to-ever-happen/396161 "2007-03-16T05:25:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lachesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@lachesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lachesis)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-5-worst-things-to-ever-happen/396161/21 "2007-03-16T16:46:12Z")
[QUOTE=Snarky\_Kong] This is a hijack, but should you be living naked in a cave somewhere if you really believe 5? [/QUOTE] why should i be naked, if i can slay something for hides? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-5-worst-things-to-ever-happen/396161/22 "2007-03-16T17:01:02Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] 90% of society would still all be subsistance farmers if it wasn’t for loans and interest. Certainly it’s not perfect and shit happens, but personally I’d rather be free to sit about on the internet all day than have a static society with no chance for better. [/QUOTE] Are you using the archaic definition of usury as interest, or the modern definition of usury as exorbitant amounts of interest? Because I was referring to the latter. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-5-worst-things-to-ever-happen/396161/23 "2007-03-16T17:12:40Z")
**mamboman** posted exactly what I was going to post. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-5-worst-things-to-ever-happen/396161/24 "2007-03-16T19:03:42Z")
[QUOTE=vinniepaz] So in the history of the world, what would you say are the 5 worst things that happened? [/QUOTE] I’ve heard tell that its creation made a lot of people very angry, and has been widely regarded as a bad idea. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-5-worst-things-to-ever-happen/396161/25 "2007-03-16T19:10:06Z")
[QUOTE=August West] **mamboman** posted exactly what I was going to post. [/QUOTE] That damned chihuahua gets around. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-5-worst-things-to-ever-happen/396161/26 "2007-03-16T19:43:30Z")
[QUOTE=Loach] That damned chihuahua gets around. [/QUOTE] That slut. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-5-worst-things-to-ever-happen/396161/27 "2007-03-16T19:51:42Z")
[QUOTE=Cisco] It would be hard for you to make a statement I disgree with more strongly. The limits of usury are still being pushed and we are about to experience a mortgage collapse of epic proportions because of it. [/QUOTE] In medieval Church law, “usury” meant charging **any** interest on a loan, not just excessive interest. And who would be in the business of lending money with no profit to be made? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-5-worst-things-to-ever-happen/396161/28 "2007-03-16T20:02:05Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] In medieval Church law, “usury” meant charging **any** interest on a loan, not just excessive interest. And who would be in the business of lending money with no profit to be made? [/QUOTE] My mistake then. I was thinking of the term in its modern definition. ---
**Author:** ![Charger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df788c/32.png) [@Charger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charger)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-5-worst-things-to-ever-happen/396161/29 "2007-03-16T20:14:27Z")
[QUOTE=vinniepaz] So in the history of the world, what would you say are the 5 worst things that happened? I mean in the sense of like negative effect they had on the world as a whole. I’m interested in these lists. [/QUOTE] Since “things” is a vague word, I will state motivations for atrocities, instead of specific events. Religious oppression Racism Being quick to anger Slavery The lack of motivation to seek knowledge Okay, so that could be seen as a cop-out answer, but I think all of the human-created events in the past could be attributed to a combination of the things I have listed. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-5-worst-things-to-ever-happen/396161/30 "2007-03-16T20:16:44Z")
[QUOTE=pool] Really? I would think Islam would be just as bad if not more so than Christianity. [/QUOTE] No Christianity probably means no Islam. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-5-worst-things-to-ever-happen/396161/31 "2007-03-16T21:00:09Z")
[QUOTE=vinniepaz] So in the history of the world, what would you say are the 5 worst things that happened? I mean in the sense of like negative effect they had on the world as a whole. I’m interested in these lists. [/QUOTE] Some things had horrible short-term negative effects, but long-term they actually turned out beneficial. If we stick solely to the immediate negative effects, then in no particular order, I would say: 1. The dinosaur extinction event 2. The invention of religion 3. The world wars 4. The Black Plague 5. The explosions of Tambora and Krakatoa in Indonesia ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-5-worst-things-to-ever-happen/396161/32 "2007-03-16T21:45:28Z")
[QUOTE=Clothahump] 1. The explosions of Tambora and Krakatoa in Indonesia [/QUOTE] Krakatoa didn’t really have that much of an effect on things. The Deccan Traps probably did though. ---
**Author:** ![Thirty-Nine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@Thirty-Nine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thirty-Nine)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2007, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-5-worst-things-to-ever-happen/396161/33 "2007-03-17T00:04:05Z")
I too am unable to think of anything worse than the creation of nuclear weapons. That said, it seems that it was inevitable. Ditto for the creation of religion. We were doomed from the start. I hope that somewhere on another planet (or time!) will be a super smart species without these tendencies. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2007, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-5-worst-things-to-ever-happen/396161/34 "2007-03-17T02:53:27Z")
> [@](#): > > 1. the destruction of the Library at Alexandria > 2. the Inquisition > 3. the Burning Times > 4. the Holocaust > 5. man rising above being kept in check by natural predators Another hijack, but the “Burning Times?” An ill-defined, historically dubious, indeterminate period of history that has essentially become a cry for validation from the tarot-cards-and-crystals camp? Mind you, I think that the idea that anyone would would burn another human being based on spurious or nonexistent evidence and a healthy dose if ignorance-fueled religious fear is horrible in its stupidity and absolutely chilling in its frequency. That said, however, the Armenian Genocide, in both its brutality and its efficiency (so efficient that people today are woefully ignorant even of its existence), is a much more shocking example of how intolerance and perceived moral superiority can affect the world than an umbrella term used to bind together somewhat similar incidences in a quest for legitimacy. That’s my opinion, anyway. My list of the 5 worst things to happen to the world: 1. The Holocaust. 2. The Inquisition. 3. The US’s American Indian policy- engagement, warfare, or treaties. 4. The USSR’s mishandling of its interior. 5. British Colonialism. I fully admit that my answers are biased and particular to my experiences and worldview, as are my exceptions to the lists of others, and I welcome debate and exceptions to my own list. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2007, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-5-worst-things-to-ever-happen/396161/35 "2007-03-17T04:17:14Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by **Der Trihs** > No Christianity probably means no Islam. But by the same token no Judaism probably means no Christianity, you could keep going back in time and blame any particular one but it is easier to just say all religion and pointless to single one out. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2007, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-5-worst-things-to-ever-happen/396161/36 "2007-03-17T04:28:41Z")
[QUOTE=pool] But by the same token no Judaism probably means no Christianity, you could keep going back in time and blame any particular one but it is easier to just say all religion and pointless to single one out. [/QUOTE] Judaism has never had the rabid expansionism, the missionary zeal of Christianity or Islam. If Christianity had never existed Judaism would be just one more minor religion. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2007, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-5-worst-things-to-ever-happen/396161/37 "2007-03-17T04:45:14Z")
I said that Islam was as bad or worse than Christianity, to which you responded that Islam would likely not exist without Christianity, your point seeming to be that since Christianity was the precursor it had a greater negative impact, but by that logic Judaism would have to be worse than Christianity and Islam because it was the precursor to both. So are you more concerned with which religion came first, or which one caused the most damage wholly on its own? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2007, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-5-worst-things-to-ever-happen/396161/38 "2007-03-17T06:50:26Z")
[QUOTE=pool] I said that Islam was as bad or worse than Christianity, to which you responded that Islam would likely not exist without Christianity, your point seeming to be that since Christianity was the precursor it had a greater negative impact, but by that logic Judaism would have to be worse than Christianity and Islam because it was the precursor to both. So are you more concerned with which religion came first, or which one caused the most damage wholly on its own? [/QUOTE] I’m concerned with the one which first came up with the Christian/Islamic brand of aggressive, ruthless monotheism. That’s Christianity. Judaism is nothing special; just another religon, like them dangerous mostly due to it’s irrationality. Unlikely to be much more than a regional threat. Christianity and it’s spawn Islam on the other hand are aggressive on the grand scale; that’s why they have spread so far, by genocide and and cultural destruction and conversion by the sword. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2007, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-5-worst-things-to-ever-happen/396161/39 "2007-03-17T12:51:28Z")
[QUOTE=Happy Scrappy Hero Pup] My list of the 5 worst things to happen to the world: 1. The Holocaust. 2. The Inquisition. 3. The US’s American Indian policy- engagement, warfare, or treaties. 4. The USSR’s mishandling of its interior. 5. British Colonialism. I fully admit that my answers are biased and particular to my experiences and worldview, as are my exceptions to the lists of others, and I welcome debate and exceptions to my own list. [/QUOTE] Surely the Spanish colonisation of South America was worse than anything we Brits pulled off? European diseases (smallpox, influenza, measles and typhus), to which the native populations had no resistance, and systems of forced labor (such as the encomienda, and the mining industry’s mita), decimated the native population. The diseases usually preceded the Spanish invaders, and the resulting population loss (between 30 and 90 percent in some cases) severely weakened the native civilizations’ ability to resist the invaders. > **[Spanish colonization of the Americas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_colonization_of_the_Americas)** > > The Spanish colonization of the Americas began in 1493 on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic) after the initial 1492 voyage of Genoese mariner Christopher Columbus under license from Queen Isabella I of Castile. These overseas territories of the Spanish Empire were under the jurisdiction of Crown of Castile until the last territory was lost in 1898. Spaniards saw the dense populations of Indigenous peoples as an important economic resource and the territory... ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2007, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-5-worst-things-to-ever-happen/396161/40 "2007-03-17T13:46:40Z")
[QUOTE= glee] Surely the Spanish colonisation of South America was worse than anything we Brits pulled off? [/QUOTE] It was a tough call between the two, to be perfectly honest. Being Irish, already having “diseases as weapons” in my list, having less sympathy for the (admittedly my perception and not based on any research) more barbaric practices of the invaded people, and a couple of other fuzzy factors bumped Cortez et al to number 6. I do, however, see your point, and if the list were longer, it’d be on there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-5-worst-things-to-ever-happen/396161.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-top-5-worst-things-to-ever-happen/396161.md?page=3)