What are the most important inventions since flint tools and why?

Birth control

 

No worries, I did say ''I'll start with some of the more obvious and wide ranging ones to eliminate them from the discussion so we can get onto the more specific and contentious ones.''
The domestication of dogs did mark a very important point in the development of civilisation. They may be the first animal that was domesticated to serve mankind. They were also bred for meat and in some parts of the world they still are.
There is archaeological evidence that the first ''farmed'' animals produced for meat were actually snails so maybe they deserve mention as they could have been the forerunner of all livestock farming.

 

I think I know where you are going with that but would you care to expand on why it was such a world changing development.

 

The rugby ball!

 

it allowed people to have more control over when they had children

 

Cleanliness is next to impossible in my bad dictionary.

I'll put forth the paper ass-gasket as my submission.

It revolutionized personal hygiene when using public restrooms, particularly for those who must sit for all toilet functions.

 

It may have been even simpler than planting the seeds, basic preservation of future supply by not harvesting every single ear of wheat may well be the root of agriculture. That would have been a great leap forward for hungry hunter gatherers.

 

Only 3 more days to wait for the start of the six nations.
Go England, down with the Jocks.

 

Yes, which helped keep families within their means and reduced the number of deaths in childbirth. A valuable contribution in the development of civilisation. Going back at least as far as ancient Egypt with the use of acacia leaves which are now known to have spermicidal properties.

 

Probably not as important as the invention of public restrooms themselves in disease control. Without them living in large cities would have been very dangerous and unpleasant.

 

Back in 2000, a group of scholars voted on the most influential invention of the last 2000 years. They decided it was the printing press. The printing press made it possible for almost all other inventions that followed. For the first time information could be mass produced and made available to everyone.

 

Specifically the moveable type printing press as developed by Gutenberg. Printing presses had been around for centuries, like most things invented by the Chinese, but they relied on hand carved plates so were prohibitively expensive to produce.
Moveable type meant books could be far more affordable.

 

Hello Montegriffo,

I might not have had the nerve to identity snails as "frontrunner" in any "field".

Cheers to your audacity!

 

Confidence gained through appropriation of the work done by QIs Elves.

 

Fair game.
Resorting to outside help was not forbidden.

 

I mean, virtually all knowledge is gained by the use of outside help.
Maybe education (schools) should be added to the list.

 

I would put shoes towards the top of the list.

 

Clothes of all kinds would have been very important, especially after the migration of homo sapiens out of Africa into Europe and Asia.

 

Perhaps BEFORE the migration would have been better...

 

@Montegriffo ....what ho!.....
Okay having been introduced to this thread my votes goes to (in no particular order);
Fermentation
Plastics
Acrylics - acrylic and methacrylic acid
Sliced Bread
Television
Microsoft Cut and Paste
Working from home

bloody farm hands.....screw you.............do dheagh shlàinte.....

 

Well fermentation, beer in particular was literally a life saver.
In an age where drinking water could make you seriously ill or even kill you then beer was essential for good health. Same goes for tea, boiling the water for a cup of Rosie enabled the migration to cities during the industrial revolution.
Plastics and acrylics, meh, do at least as much harm as good.
Sliced bread? Eww. Does organic woodfired sourdough even come in sliced?
TV, obvs.
Cut and paste ditto.
What's working? It's been so long since the pub was open I've forgotten.

Swing low, sweet chariot. Bottoms up

 

Meh...harm schmarm...its my hobby....building plastic model kits....and painting them...yeah okay so I have issues....

dunno...is it bread?

 

Yeah I've seen them in the photos thread. Good effort.

Peasant

 

The spork!

 

Actually, we didn't, as a species, well understand, or at least effectively employ, the don't sh!t where you eat, concept until the 19th century. The discovery of water-born illness, through contamination, was not an invention, of course, but a discovery, yet I have no objection to it being listed, as I believe it did more for public health than any other medical development. Yes, I realize that's a bold statement, but this is as I'd heard it expressed by one expert; and yes, its #1 status, among aids to increasing human longevity, includes even vaccines.

Oh, and the microscope was not a part of its discovery, just good ol' common sense (though it took a while to win over the medical establishment).

http://www.victorianweb.org/science/health/johnsnow.html#:~:text=Little wonder that John Snow,the heroes of medical science.


I now see that there was a better post of yours to quote for this reply:

I'm making the argument that the giant leap forward was the microscope and we'd always understood the need for cleanliness.
Cleanliness is next to Godliness after all.
Especially in really bad dictionaries.

I enjoyed the joke, BTW (does it count as an invention?)