# The World's Greatest Idea **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 9, 2011, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-greatest-idea/566967 "2011-01-09T09:19:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-greatest-idea/566967/1 "2011-01-09T09:19:49Z")
I’ve been reading a book with the above title by John Farndon where he outlines 50 ideas drawn up by a “panel of experts” as a selection of the greatest. These were then listed on a [website](http://www.theworldsgreatestidea.com/)and voting invited - the book lists the ideas in the order on which they were voted for. I wondered whether the Dope would agree with the results of this poll/book, so have listed the ideas in alphabetical order (or will do if the poll works) for your consideration and comment. I’ll reveal the winner of the original poll after a while… Grim ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-greatest-idea/566967/2 "2011-01-09T09:29:03Z")
Third time lucky - I forgot to include an “Other” option, so feel free to contribute your suggestions for what should have made the short list below. I’ve also allowed you to vote for more than one option… ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-greatest-idea/566967/3 "2011-01-09T09:59:57Z")
Where’s Einsteins’ Relativity (either Special or General)? That’s commonly considered the greatest feat of human thought. ---
**Author:** ![iamnotbatman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/858c86/32.png) [@iamnotbatman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamnotbatman)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-greatest-idea/566967/4 "2011-01-09T10:04:39Z")
IMO the “Abolition of Slavery” should not count as a “Greatest Idea”. Slavery was the idea; its abolition was obvious to the very first slave. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-greatest-idea/566967/5 "2011-01-09T12:09:55Z")
FYI- it wasn’t obvious to me- this is a multiple options poll. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-greatest-idea/566967/6 "2011-01-09T14:34:15Z")
> [@iamnotbatman](#): > > IMO the “Abolition of Slavery” should not count as a “Greatest Idea”. Slavery was the idea; its abolition was obvious to the very first slave. Likewise, “Evolution by Natural Selection” was not an idea. In fact, a lot of things on this list are not ideas. ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-greatest-idea/566967/7 "2011-01-09T15:20:26Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > Likewise, “Evolution by Natural Selection” was not an idea. In fact, a lot of things on this list are not ideas. This is true - the author is quite explicit that he made "no attempt to rigidly define what is meant by a ‘great’ idea or even an ‘idea’. " ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-greatest-idea/566967/8 "2011-01-09T16:32:10Z")
I chose ‘the scientific method’. By enabling us to sort through the clutter and figure out what actually works, it enabled so much else. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-greatest-idea/566967/9 "2011-01-09T17:06:45Z")
While QI is a great TV show, I wouldn’t neccessarily put it in the top 50 greatest ideas ever. Top 100, maybe. ---
**Author:** ![janis\_and\_c0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janis_and_c0/32/21_2.png) [@janis\_and\_c0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janis_and_c0)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-greatest-idea/566967/10 "2011-01-09T17:24:28Z")
I chose hope, without which none of these would have flourished. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-greatest-idea/566967/11 "2011-01-09T17:36:59Z")
> [@janis\_and\_c0](#): > > I chose hope, without which none of these would have flourished. Except evolution. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-greatest-idea/566967/12 "2011-01-09T18:05:33Z")
No, the theory of evolution would not exists without humans. The data that might lead to the theory would exist, of course, but that’s all the universe does - produces data. It needs humans to form the data into theories. Incidentally, I chose “bread”. It’s what started human civilization. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-greatest-idea/566967/13 "2011-01-09T18:14:16Z")
I chose two. Music and sewerage. Music because I love it so and sewerage because I hate the idea of a world without it. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-greatest-idea/566967/14 "2011-01-09T18:21:20Z")
I wonder if, in a poll this large, there’s a somewhat even spacing between the most clicked options – a result of some urge to ‘click something again’ after having passed over a few options. You find the first item to click on, then pass the next, the next, the next, and you start to get antsy – ‘there’s gotta be something worth clicking on real soon’, and then you click on, say, the fifth or the seventh if you can at all arrange yourself with what the item says, just to have clicked on something… ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-greatest-idea/566967/15 "2011-01-09T18:29:05Z")
I went with ‘use of fire’, without which we never would have made it north of the Tropic of Cancer. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-greatest-idea/566967/16 "2011-01-09T18:30:40Z")
The TV remote control. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-greatest-idea/566967/17 "2011-01-09T22:48:25Z")
> [@grimpixie](#): > > Third time lucky - I forgot to include an “Other” option, so feel free to contribute your suggestions for what should have made the short list below. I’ve also allowed you to vote for more than one option… I put in the “other” option for you. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-greatest-idea/566967/18 "2011-01-09T22:50:46Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Where’s Einsteins’ Relativity (either Special or General)? > > That’s commonly considered the greatest feat of human thought. By whom? ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-greatest-idea/566967/19 "2011-01-09T23:55:57Z")
I chose “contraceptive” and “feminism.” Even the deepest ideas and most amazing inventions have generally meant next to nothing for half of the human population. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-greatest-idea/566967/20 "2011-01-10T05:56:37Z")
I thought “scientific method” as soon as I saw the thread title. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-greatest-idea/566967.md?page=2)