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Old 04-08-2011, 01:59 PM   #5
Elfwreck
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Block & tackle

Germ theory

Internet (yeah, it's new; in a hundred years, the beginning of global multidirectional communication will be marked as one of the turning points in human history)

...
It's a silly topic for discussion. It's mental masturbation for history experts, and can be fun for people to talk about, but it's pointless; we can't reach any conclusions. Debating whether radio is, or is not, more important to the history of mankind than germ theory is meaningless, and those are contemporary. Debating whether Christianity had more impact on humanity than sailboats is beyond pointless. And where do we put gunpowder?

If it were divided into sections--military, information technology, medicine, transportation, power sources, daily life--maybe it'd be easier to deal with. But comparing across fields is useless. Which has had a bigger impact on humanity: the knife or the bandage? And what scope will the discussion cover--will it be comparing huge variable memes like "writing" to individual inventions like "steam engine?"

(FWIW, I'm not complaining about the topic. I'm just saying it can't be more than a just-for-fun, lets-think-about-it discussion.)
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