# What Is the Most Important Invention In Human History? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 20, 2018, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-human-history/816431 "2018-06-20T05:22:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-human-history/816431/63 "2018-06-20T18:23:34Z")
The greatest invention of all time is soap, antiseptics. Donnie Darko. ---
**Author:** ![Pabitel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Pabitel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pabitel)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-human-history/816431/64 "2018-06-20T18:36:35Z")
> [@golffan1963](#): > > Discoveries of things such as fire and electricity don’t count. Man’s use of fire almost certainly started with the use of fire from natural combustion (lightning, vulcanism). So that wouldn’t count. But somewhere along the way somebody figured out how to start a fire from scratch. So fire might not fit your topic. But fire starting certainly would. And I would put that at the top of the list and miles above whatever might be second place. It has even been argued that the use of fire is what made us human. [Cite](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-fire-makes-us-human-72989884/) ---
**Author:** ![Temporary\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Temporary\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temporary_Name)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-human-history/816431/65 "2018-06-20T20:16:09Z")
> [@Pabitel](#): > > Man’s use of fire almost certainly started with the use of fire from natural combustion (lightning, vulcanism). So that wouldn’t count. But somewhere along the way somebody figured out how to start a fire from scratch. So fire might not fit your topic. But fire starting certainly would. And I would put that at the top of the list and miles above whatever might be second place. > > It has even been argued that the use of fire is what made us human. > > [Cite](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-fire-makes-us-human-72989884/) You could also argue that control of fire has made for the most significant advances in weaponry. Without gunpowder, the longbow might be the ultimate weapon today. It is hard to imagine the internal combustion or jet engine without that primitive understanding of thermodynamics, so motorized vehicles and planes would be questionable without “fire”, and even steam power is derived from control over fire. It is REALLY hard to imagine nuclear weapons \*or \*power without the means to start and control more primitive forms of fire like flames. For that matter, without gaslights mankind is relegated to daylight hours - - - or candles, no wait, that takes fire too. I guess the _use_ of fire is an invention, and a pretty damn significant one it seems. ---
**Author:** ![Fleetwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fleetwood/32/271_2.png) [@Fleetwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleetwood)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-human-history/816431/66 "2018-06-20T20:46:24Z")
The push-up bra. ---
**Author:** ![Temporary\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Temporary\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temporary_Name)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-human-history/816431/67 "2018-06-20T21:00:06Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The top dozen inventions in order of importance: > Language > Government > Written language > Tools > Fire > Agriculture > Domestication of animals > Art > Mathematics > Wheels > Alphabet > Money I have a hard time imagining #3 written languages without #11 alphabet, but the earliest written language could have been pictographs. I also believe you would have to domesticate animals before you could practice crop agriculture on a very large scale (plow animals) so I would reverse #6 and #7, and I would also put mathematics ahead of art so reverse #8 and #9. (This last might just be prejudice on my part- I think of art as the result of an affluent society so they must have had mathematics first, but I could be wrong. Certainly it is easier to draw an image than to calculate a number so I believe art may have arrived first, but it would be less significant than math until leisure time was abundant for all.) I believe I learned from the Straightdope (years ago) that a single wheel is only slightly more advanced than a drag, but that the axel made great strides for transportation. So I would replace #10 wheels with pairs of wheels attached by an axel. I would also say that water travel is as significant as at least some of these (but can’t articulate where it might go on the list). ---
**Author:** ![Temporary\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Temporary\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temporary_Name)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-human-history/816431/68 "2018-06-20T21:12:19Z")
> [@Fleetwood](#): > > The push-up bra. This is an invention that certainly elevated the influence and profile of my ex-wife, but I am not sure it contributed to all of humankind the way other mentioned inventions have. (In all seriousness, she started getting significant advances in pay and position once she started wearing push up bras. And her bosses were mostly straight women, so I don’t believe it was due to anything sexual. She did claim she was seen as more successful because she appeared more “successful” and if she drove a nicer car she would get even more/bigger raises. There did seem to be evidence of this in the parking lot.) ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-human-history/816431/69 "2018-06-20T21:14:52Z")
I tend to discount Language, in itself, as there is evidence that animals engage in communication through sound. Having said that, recording knowledge through symbols and associating that with language is, to me, uniquely human. But in measuring importance I still go with agriculture. My reason being there are still primitive hunter-gatherer societies in existence (they haven’t progressed) and they have language. To me that indicates that language is not the spark of advancement. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-human-history/816431/70 "2018-06-20T21:57:16Z")
The wheel. ---
**Author:** ![Temporary\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Temporary\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temporary_Name)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-human-history/816431/71 "2018-06-20T22:02:57Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > Too much is lost with the oral tradition … _written_ language is when we were able to store wisdom and knowledge accurately for future generations … > > Would “carrying things” count as invention? … the chimp that fashions a useful tool would have to leave it behind when the troop moved to a new location and make a new one there … it would be a huge savings in resources if the chimp could just simply carry the tool with him … also when the chimps come upon a leopard’s kill, they have to sit and eat as fast as possible before the leopard returns … much more efficient to pick the carcass up and carry it to a place of safety and share with the whole troop … > > The voltaic pile … what good are generators or transitors without current electricity? … Are you advocating a simple hand drawn chariot (or even a wheelbarrow) as a great advancement? I think I would have to agree they would be a necessary step, but not as significant as many, many others. It seems even nomadic tribes had domesticated animals (both pack animals and flocks), how handy would a cart be for those who must relocate periodically? (Of course in a sand environment a drag might be as useful as a wheeled cart.) Concerning electricity, I agree very strongly; what is useful is the grid. Without the grid nothing electronic is of any use. Except the one thing you mention, a generator. If you have a Honda generator, you can create electricity for brief periods of time by simply……. Drilling through miles of rock to get crude oil which you can then refine into gasoline or diesel fuel, or, you can pull it away from the engine and build a few exercise bikes out of coconut fronds which you can turn the generator coils with using vines if you have enough Gilligan’s to pedal the bikes. It would be possible to generate electricity in small doses in a post apocalyptic world, but it would be something you could not count on for everyday life. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-human-history/816431/72 "2018-06-20T22:09:33Z")
Bee Wilson, author of **Consider the Fork** , believes that it’s pots. Pots made it possible to boil and fry things, rather than just roasting. There are many things that are less edible, indigestible, or downright toxic if they’re not boiled first. So pots increased the amount of foodstuff available. She thinks that putting water over a fire is counter-intuitive and was therefore a great leap. Although I know there is a boiling technology that uses tightly woven (waterproof) baskets and heated rocks. And pots can be placed next to a fire and they still work. So the over-the-fire bit probably wasn’t the big conceptual leap. > [@Kobal2](#): > > Alcohol. So important, it drove the foundation of civilization itself ! Definitely a contributor to civilization. Now I’m wondering if you make alcohol without boiling technology? I’m seriously asking. I’m guessing the answer is yes, but I really don’t know. > [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Clearly the answer is Venetian blinds. > > Without them, it would be curtains for all of us. > > mmm Ouch! > [@GuanoLad](#): > > Bloody hell. Ignoring the lame Dad joke, there is nothing lower on the list of important inventions than bloody venetian effing blinds. There is no ignoring the lame dad joke. The lame dad joke is the answer. Before governments, there was the lame dad joke. ---
**Author:** ![Temporary\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Temporary\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temporary_Name)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-human-history/816431/73 "2018-06-20T22:51:37Z")
> [@kk\_fusion](#): > > Positional number systems and logarithms, if that fits your criteria. > [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > One that hasn’t been mentioned yet is the clock. Suddenly, we had a mechanical way to gauge time, and lives are run by it. > > But nothing took lives over faster and more completely than our modern computers. > [@Kobal2](#): > > Alcohol. So important, it drove the foundation of civilization itself ! These are very good answers, and ones that did not occur to me (well number systems are ALL positional to me [and I did mention numbers], because trying to subtract LXII from CXVII makes me want to cry like a little girl). Once cities are established, these things advanced civilization significantly even if many did not personally make use of the first two. And later when education was more common and most did partake of all three they made even greater contributions to society. How could I have forgotten clocks? How?!? And fermentation, the essential building block of all civilized societies! How could I have let that slip past me? And for me to assume the way I understand something is how it was always understood is a dark blot of shame on my soul. Positional number systems, POSITIONAL number systems, I just think of them as ‘real’ numbers because they mean something to me other systems of recording numbers do not. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-human-history/816431/74 "2018-06-20T22:54:39Z")
Without reading the whole thread yet, I would nominate (in no particular order) the wheel, sanitation, the printing press, and surgical anesthesia. ---
**Author:** ![Temporary\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Temporary\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temporary_Name)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-human-history/816431/75 "2018-06-20T23:05:14Z")
Has anyone mentioned paved roads? From the most basic cobble stone to advanced high reflective asphalt, wheels would have been no good without roads; paved roads less likely to fail due to flooding. Paved roads are routinely listed as Eisenhower’s greatest accomplishment while president (well the interstate system). I do not consider roads as significant as some other inventions, but they are VERY useful bits of technology that do make every age better than it would have been without them. (And again, wheels ain’t nothin’ without them!) ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-human-history/816431/76 "2018-06-21T00:09:40Z")
> [@Pabitel](#): > > Man’s use of fire almost certainly started with the use of fire from natural combustion (lightning, vulcanism). So that wouldn’t count. But somewhere along the way somebody figured out how to start a fire from scratch. So fire might not fit your topic. But fire starting certainly would. And I would put that at the top of the list and miles above whatever might be second place. > > It has even been argued that the use of fire is what made us human. > > [Cite](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-fire-makes-us-human-72989884/) Came here to post this, so seconded. Efficient, portable ways of starting (and transporting) fire. Light, heat, protection from predators. And barbecue. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-human-history/816431/77 "2018-06-21T00:59:44Z")
The ability to create and control fire. It cooks, it warms, it smokes food, it signals, it clears ground. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-human-history/816431/78 "2018-06-21T05:27:46Z")
The most important invention is one invented before recorded history and is still a vital part of our civilization. That means a basic machine. I’m going with the wheel and axle. The lever and inclined plane are more fundamental so they’re older, and the Central Americans built huge pyramids without the wheel. But the wheel and axle gave us this: the ability to transport objects from place to place much more easily. On a related note, there was an earlier thread (that I can’t find now) in a similar vein for relatively modern inventions. I’m not at all sure, but I _think_ the winner was either electricity or the printing press. The printing press allowed us to transport large amounts of information all over the place. Electricity allowed us to transport energy from place to place. Put the printing press and electricity together and eventually you get the telegraph, teletypes, and the Internet. So the generalized concept of transportation is a great invention by itself because it greatly magnified the power of other inventions. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-human-history/816431/79 "2018-06-21T08:19:05Z")
Another criterion might be the _difficulty_ or _uniqueness_ of an invention. For example, both parchment and papyrus-like writing “paper” were each independently invented at least twice (pre-Columbian America had them) and thus might be considered “easy to invent.” So parchment and/or papyrus might not qualify as “important inventions” even if they had remained important. Paper, OTOH, seems to have been a unique and difficult invention. (The Aztecs had a bark-based “amate paper,” but could it compete with Old World paper in cost or quality?) Similarly, if the development of steam engines had been more gradual — instead of James Watt coming up with several specific and important improvements — steam engines might not be on the list. The development of agriculture was very gradual, occurred in multiple venues, and some of the development was unconscious so, despite its huge importance, agriculture might not qualify for the list if we insist on an invention’s uniqueness or difficulty. ---
**Author:** ![Gretchion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8edcca/32.png) [@Gretchion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gretchion)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-human-history/816431/80 "2018-06-21T08:19:47Z")
> [@Temporary\_Name](#): > > I have a hard time imagining #3 written languages without #11 alphabet While China has adopted the Latin alphabet for Pinyin, its own written language does just fine without an alphabet, and has for centuries. ---
**Author:** ![sabernode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@sabernode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sabernode)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-human-history/816431/81 "2018-06-21T08:28:57Z")
For me, the most important invention in human history is Technology. This includes cell phones, gadgets, and computers. It changes the way we live. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-human-history/816431/82 "2018-06-21T10:56:19Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > We should consider the printing press, too. Writing beats that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-human-history/816431.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-human-history/816431.md?page=5)