I don’t know, is The idea that I’m not the only freak who feels this way important to most people?
Porn is part of that. The other part is discussions about sexuality that aren’t censored by the fact people can’t speak freely if their names are attached. But yes, really, pornography is a big deal if it means you discover you’re not just a weirdo, and that can happen at any age.
Do you mean the 1955 intermodal container? It changed the world. McLean and Tantlinger. I think of them every time I pass a semi or a rail car or shipyard. Unsung, they are.
Almost all things today are so complicated that one man can’t do it from a scratch. They are all based on previous inventions and most of them are basically just adaptions or combinations. It’s like evolution.
I think that if You choose a thousand years instead of just fifty, You still have mostly adaptions, which may have revolutionized thing, but still are just adaptions and combinations ( like Your examples. Even something so basic as a stirrup falls into this category. )
Edit: Uh, I wrote this before I realized there was actually third page going already ( I was just at the end of the first… )
My view is this increasing complexity is the opportunity for future geniuses to introduce something of mind-numbing simplicity that opens up whole new vistas. The equivalent of E=MC^2.
nm