# What is the greatest invention ever? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 9, 2012, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-invention-ever/608896 "2012-01-09T05:29:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-invention-ever/608896/61 "2012-01-10T18:49:14Z")
Isn’t fire more of a discovery rather than an invention? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-invention-ever/608896/62 "2012-01-10T20:58:42Z")
Hot water. I could give up a lot, but I can’t imagine starting my day without a nice hot shower. ---
**Author:** ![MarkD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@MarkD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarkD)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-invention-ever/608896/63 "2012-01-11T00:56:28Z")
I nominate the stick. Lever, Poker, Ball hitter, puck smacker, reacher, hunting device, farm tool. A large stick sliced in a cross section is a wheel, a smaller one is an axle or rollers. Many everyday items come from the stick. The tractor also deserves a place on this list. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-invention-ever/608896/64 "2012-01-11T01:17:31Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Another vote for language. It’s what makes it possible to have collective progress. Have you ever watched British Parliment in session? What they are doing is not “collective progress”. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2012, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-invention-ever/608896/65 "2012-01-11T01:18:22Z")
I don’t know if it is a single ‘invention’ but more a series of inventions, but the industrial and agricultural revolutions of the 17th and 18th century led to enough surplus labor that we could devote more labor to science and development, leading to the leapfrogging advances we’ve seen in the last 300 years. ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-invention-ever/608896/66 "2012-01-11T01:40:00Z")
> [@tr0psn4j](#): > > Isn’t fire more of a discovery rather than an invention? Yes. Unless it is a controlled fire started by humans to cook food and to keep warm, which may have altered the dietary habits and formed groups. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-invention-ever/608896/67 "2012-01-11T02:38:06Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I don’t know if it is a single ‘invention’ but more a series of inventions, but the industrial and agricultural revolutions of the 17th and 18th century led to enough surplus labor that we could devote more labor to science and development, leading to the leapfrogging advances we’ve seen in the last 300 years. All because of the plow. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-invention-ever/608896/68 "2012-01-11T02:50:57Z")
> [@MarkD](#): > > I nominate the stick. > Lever, > Poker, > Ball hitter, puck smacker, reacher, hunting device, farm tool. A large stick sliced in a cross section is a wheel, a smaller one is an axle or rollers. Many everyday items come from the stick. Nah, a stick is just a failed boomerang. I nominate the wedge if you want a simple tool. ---
**Author:** ![MarkD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@MarkD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarkD)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-invention-ever/608896/69 "2012-01-11T02:57:42Z")
Hollow out the stick and you have a pipe. For irrigation. And sanitation. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-invention-ever/608896/70 "2012-01-11T02:59:21Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > Nah, a stick is just a failed boomerang. > > I nominate the wedge if you want a simple tool. Any chance there’s cave art depicting the first wedgie? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-invention-ever/608896/71 "2012-01-11T07:39:57Z")
The first tool must have been a rock. ---
**Author:** ![Uhondo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/edb3f5/32.png) [@Uhondo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uhondo)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-invention-ever/608896/72 "2012-01-12T05:38:12Z")
MASTURBATION Seriously! Think about the benefits of ‘going solo’ for a moment.They are numerous; the list below is by no means exhaustive: -Disease free -Don’t have to spend lots of time and money -No ‘hangovers’ -Free from complications that bedevil regular sex such as pregnancy -No worries about not being satisfied/satisfying the other party -Get to know yourself better i.e. what your body really responds to Don’t know whether it can really be classified as an invention but however you classify it, it remains great I’m sure Jocelyn Elders would back me up on this! ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-invention-ever/608896/73 "2012-01-12T06:24:09Z")
Playstation 3! 😃 Seriously, the greatest ‘invention’ is electricity, due to our dependence on it. When it goes out, we simply stop. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-invention-ever/608896/74 "2012-01-12T10:31:45Z")
In historical order: language (not just speech but structured and commonly agreed speech), writing, printing, telecoms. Note that that the last includes the internet. Each of those engendered momentous changes in human civilisation. If you restrict it to physical things, then the wheel is the prime contender. ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-invention-ever/608896/75 "2012-01-12T10:40:44Z")
Which came first, wheel or writing? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-invention-ever/608896/76 "2012-01-12T15:01:09Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > The first tool must have been a rock. I considered this, along with fire, but ultimately see both as ‘discoveries’ instead of ‘inventions’. I can see the argument either way, though. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-invention-ever/608896/77 "2012-01-12T16:18:55Z")
I suggest reading, since writing wasn’t useful until reading was invented. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-invention-ever/608896/78 "2012-01-12T16:35:06Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > I suggest reading, since writing wasn’t useful until reading was invented. Ironclad logic! No way to argue. Makes one wonder if the first useful book had the title “How To Read.” ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-invention-ever/608896/79 "2012-01-12T16:39:02Z")
Clothing. Nothing else comes close to it’s ability to increase our available territory and therefore the diversity of food, climate, and challenges we can take advantage of. ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-invention-ever/608896/80 "2012-01-12T23:53:58Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Ironclad logic! No way to argue. > > Makes one wonder if the first useful book had the title “How To Read.” 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-invention-ever/608896.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-greatest-invention-ever/608896.md?page=5)