# What is one human being's greatest accomplishment? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 17, 2016, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-one-human-beings-greatest-accomplishment/746310 "2016-02-17T01:50:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-one-human-beings-greatest-accomplishment/746310/1 "2016-02-17T01:50:52Z")
I’m curious if you could cite any one person from history (or the present) who accomplished some amazing feat, who and what would be at the top of your list? I will begin by suggesting that perhaps Beethoven writing all the music he did after becoming deaf might well be a possibility for one person’s s greatest accomplishment ever. I can’t think of anything more amazing at this time. I think this should be restricted to examples that are generally known to be real and can be proven from history. For example, I would have to scratch Beethoven in favor of Noah if it could be proven that God really spoke with him and told him a big flood was on the way and he needed to get two animals of every species and build an arc to save all the life on earth and that he then did that and saved all the life on the planet. But, I don’t think that can be proven or known for a fact that it really happened. So, please choose something that is generally accepted as having happened in fact. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-one-human-beings-greatest-accomplishment/746310/2 "2016-02-17T02:01:53Z")
I nominate myself for inventing the Monkhormel Burrito. From this [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=784007). > [@](#): > > …a Monkhormel burrito (patent pending). Therefore, monkey\>horse\>camel cooked up then chopped up and made into a burrito with some beans and rice and salsa etc… ---
**Author:** ![blue\_infinity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_infinity/32/2817_2.png) [@blue\_infinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blue_infinity)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-one-human-beings-greatest-accomplishment/746310/3 "2016-02-17T02:07:03Z")
Otto Rohwedder. Invented sliced bread. Nothing since has come close. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-one-human-beings-greatest-accomplishment/746310/4 "2016-02-17T02:22:41Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > I nominate myself for inventing the Monkhormel Burrito. It’s either that, or General Relativity. Tough call. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-one-human-beings-greatest-accomplishment/746310/5 "2016-02-17T03:33:36Z")
As a guess (and that is all this is) John Von Neumann helping lay the groundwork for a wide range of scientific and technological fields despite dying in his early 50s. ---
**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:** [February 17, 2016, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-one-human-beings-greatest-accomplishment/746310/6 "2016-02-17T03:38:09Z")
I don’t know about a single human, but I think Newton and Leibniz inventing calculus completely independently of each other at virtually the same time ranks as a high spot for humanity. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-one-human-beings-greatest-accomplishment/746310/7 "2016-02-17T04:19:06Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > I don’t know about a single human, but I think Newton and Leibniz inventing calculus completely independently of each other at virtually the same time ranks as a high spot for humanity. Most definitely. A fine example. But, I have heard that one of them may be deserving of the award for first in Industrial Espionage - even though there was no such thing as Industry - to speak of. And also, at that time, there was hardly anything that could be classed as Espionage. However, after this incident, one of those had a very sharp introduction to the field of Industrial Espionage - or perhaps it could better be called Intellectual Espionage? But that is entirely secondary to the fact that Calculus was a real game changer at that time. The world would never be the same again. It became a far more interesting place after that. If I had to make a wager, I would suspect it was Newton who was the true originator and Leibniz who was the copy cat. It’s just the feeling I get from reading some of his journals. From what I recall, there were just never terribly precise. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-one-human-beings-greatest-accomplishment/746310/8 "2016-02-17T04:24:22Z")
NM. ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-one-human-beings-greatest-accomplishment/746310/9 "2016-02-17T04:26:01Z")
Plato, for his work on inventing the plate. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-one-human-beings-greatest-accomplishment/746310/10 "2016-02-17T04:28:19Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > As a guess (and that is all this is) John Von Neumann helping lay the groundwork for a wide range of scientific and technological fields despite dying in his early 50s. Can you just imagine what kind of fantastic contributions he could have made if only he had lived for another 20 years or so? It just staggers the imagination. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-one-human-beings-greatest-accomplishment/746310/11 "2016-02-17T04:32:11Z")
> [@Asympotically\_fat](#): > > Plato, for his work on inventing the plate. Plates? Hey! Can’t you be serious? I would ask you please to keep in mind this is a serious thread. Everyone knows that his claim to Fame was the invention of Play-Dough. ---
**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:** [February 17, 2016, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-one-human-beings-greatest-accomplishment/746310/12 "2016-02-17T04:40:59Z")
[Norman Borlaug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Borlaug). He fed the world. > [@](#): > > …Borlaug is often credited with saving over a billion people worldwide from starvation. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-one-human-beings-greatest-accomplishment/746310/13 "2016-02-17T05:00:30Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > [Norman Borlaug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Borlaug). He fed the world. Oh, imagine my surprise. I figured this was another joke nomination but when I followed your link, I saw that he was actually a very serious man who made a truly wonderful contribution to humankind. I even checked on various spellings of his first and last name - looking for some kind of joke when spelling his name backwards. But no! You made a very fine nomination. If not for you, I’m guessing many people here would never have heard of Norman Borlaug. Well done. I was going to tell you about Socrates and why I think he should be nominated. He would be a very close second to Plato. You remember the 1970s comedy TV show called, “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In”? Perhaps you may remember the phrase he made famous that was used on that show? But now I’m too embarrassed to make a cheap joke about that. I guess I should retire from this thread now. Shame on me. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-one-human-beings-greatest-accomplishment/746310/14 "2016-02-17T05:10:09Z")
I thought about nominating Borlaug, but picked Von Neumann instead. Maurice Hilleman was pretty productive too. > **[Maurice Hilleman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Hilleman)** > > Maurice Ralph Hilleman (August 30, 1919 – April 11, 2005) was a leading American microbiologist who specialized in vaccinology and developed over 40 vaccines, an unparalleled record of productivity. According to one estimate, his vaccines save nearly eight million lives each year. He has been described as one of the most influential vaccinologists ever. He has been called the "father of modern vaccines". Robert Gallo called Hilleman "the most successfu Of the 14 vaccines routinely recommended in ... > [@](#): > > Maurice Ralph Hilleman (August 30, 1919 – April 11, 2005) was an American microbiologist who specialized in vaccinology and developed over 40 vaccines, an unparalleled record of productivity.[1][2] Of the 14 vaccines routinely recommended in current vaccine schedules, he developed eight: those for measles, mumps, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, chickenpox, meningitis, pneumonia and Haemophilus influenzae bacteria.[1] He also played a role in the discovery of the cold-producing adenoviruses, the hepatitis viruses, and the cancer-causing virus SV40. > > He is credited with saving more lives than any other medical scientist of the 20th century.[3][4][5] Robert Gallo described him as “the most successful vaccinologist in history”.[3] Borlaug and Hilleman combined probably saved 1.5 billion lives or so. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-one-human-beings-greatest-accomplishment/746310/15 "2016-02-17T09:24:19Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Borlaug and Hilleman combined probably saved 1.5 billion lives or so. That’s pretty damn impressive… And it sure beats my suggestions: I was going to say that the prize should go to Thomas Edison( or N.Tesla?) , for making electricity practical. Or the guy who invented the flush toilet. In both cases, they created the necessary conditions for modern life. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-one-human-beings-greatest-accomplishment/746310/16 "2016-02-17T09:33:55Z")
Painting the upper walls and ceiling of the Sistine Chapel ranks high in my book, as does insisting on a 481-foot high, ever-lasting pyramid for a tomb. Calculus and general relativity? Nah, I’d rather look at real accomplishments like making the first atomic bomb, and the Saturn V rocket. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-one-human-beings-greatest-accomplishment/746310/17 "2016-02-17T11:19:34Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I thought about nominating Borlaug, but picked Von Neumann instead. > > Maurice Hilleman was pretty productive too. > > [Maurice Hilleman - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Hilleman) > > Borlaug and Hilleman combined probably saved 1.5 billion lives or so. Not only did they save them, they saved them well-- that is to say, they didn’t just extend life, they made people live healthier, safer lives. I was going to suggest Hilleman, but instead, I’ll throw in Ignaz Semmelweis, the guy who convinced doctors to wash their hands between patients, and kicked off antiseptis as a research field. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-one-human-beings-greatest-accomplishment/746310/18 "2016-02-17T12:58:28Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Not only did they save them, they saved them well-- that is to say, they didn’t just extend life, they made people live healthier, safer lives. I was going to suggest Hilleman, but instead, I’ll throw in Ignaz Semmelweis, the guy who convinced doctors to wash their hands between patients, and kicked off antiseptis as a research field. Holy Smoke! I once saw a B&W movie about Louis Pasteur and it made it look like it was Pasteur who was the one responsible for doctors washing their hands. Do you mean to tell me I am a victim of some modern Hollywood Industrial Dream Complex? ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-one-human-beings-greatest-accomplishment/746310/19 "2016-02-17T13:13:00Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > […] I’ll throw in Ignaz Semmelweis, the guy who convinced doctors to wash their hands between patients, and kicked off antiseptis as a research field. It would have been great if he had convinced them. Semmelweis is a famously tragic figure. His ideas caught on only after his death, with Pasteur and the development of germ theory. In his lifetime, he was rejected as unscientific, and was widely ridiculed. He suffered some kind of mental breakdown, and died in an asylum in 1865. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-one-human-beings-greatest-accomplishment/746310/20 "2016-02-17T13:16:45Z")
I would assume it would be an identiable person and specific situation. Otherwise, during the “Axial Age” - around 700 - 400 BCE, different individuals and groups developed the capacity to focus on questions of Purpose and Meaning. Most major religions and philosophies were framed in this era and have shaped us since. Buddha, Confucious, Socrates Plato Aristotle, Monotheism in Judea and the region, etc. Hard to argue with Einstein and his insights - he was standing on the shoulders of a lot of thought that had gone on up to that point, but he pulled it all together and understood the implications. - Calculus and Newton & Leibniz; - Evolution with Darwin (again, he pulled together a variety of existing threads and achievements and understood the implications). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-one-human-beings-greatest-accomplishment/746310.md?page=2)