Mans greatest achievement?

So what is it?

The US sending a man to the moon?

The great wall of China?

The harnessing of electricity?

I vote for the moon mission.

I vote for standing up. That's what set us aside from the other monkeys...

Of course, if you're talking technology only, I go with the wheel.

there can be no argument with my vote for pizza

1. Fire
2. Wheel
3. Flight
4. Nuclear Technology
5. Space Flight

When nano-technology gets widely adopted it will be my primary choice probably since so much is possible with this technology.

Interesting responses

Mcory1, I would have to agree that standing up, and the ability to use our free hands, is probably the most important.

I would have to put metallurgy very high on the list. Theres a good show today on the History channel 8pm est. about history of metallurgy. Its amazing how much we depend on it and how it shaped our world in countless ways.

But for a single achievement I would have to go with the Moon Landing. Which couldnt been done without metallurgy

[edit on 19-10-2005 by ShadowXIX]

I'd have to say either the printing press, or, more recently, the Internet.

The printing press is a good one bsbray11

That reminded me to add mathematics

Music, or becoming able to write.

Both actions convey a means of communication, and telling stories...as well as recording history.

Mathmatics is a good one, too.

If you want to go with something more recent, then the personal computer has my vote.

And the worst thing to ever be acheived?

The making of the thong.

I don't know why so many people cite the wheel as the most important invention. The Aztecs and Incas did just fine without it. Tenoctitlan was the largest city in the world at one point.

Anyway, I'd say the greatest achievement of man was control over electricity. It paved the way for other inventions like flight (space and air), radio, nuclear power, computers, etc.

[edit on 10/19/2005 by Flinx]

Chocolate? Nah, too rich.

Standing; walking upright and the ability to use the thumb would be my pick.

The space bar was pretty important too. Elseeverythingwouldbeunreadable.



[edit on 19-10-2005 by garyo1954]

I think that writing is the most important human achievement. Without writing, there is only so much that we can pass on from one generation to another. It allows us to learn what has been done in the past, so we don't have to redevelop everything from scratch.

I might be a bit biased, though, since I love reading... But even so, I think it's one of the top achievements.

Originally posted by bsbray11
I'd have to say either the printing press, or, more recently, the Internet.

My thoughts exactly ...

The Internet will really turn out to be a crucial part of the human story.

The ability to "Nurture" past our "nature" instincts.

Next to that, Agrarian society. Ie the ability to settle in one place and farm.

Don't forget agriculture, which was the end of tribal communities, and the beginning of trade between communities.

I like the printing press too. A major change to the world.

The steam engine was right up there, for having started the Industrial Age.

But the Apollo Moon program, is going to be on the top of my list, it happened in my lifetime. And in terms of degree of difficulty, it gets max points. Where other achievments in history, were quickly followed by other similar advances, reaching the moon was unique, and has not been duplicated so far. It's uniqueness, is that it required a very large group of people to make it happen. That is something that doesn't happen very often.

All four of these promoted change throughout the world. Changes that are permanent, and not fading away.

I didn't include the computer, I still see it as a spin-off of the Moon program, and it's not really something the entire world population takes advantage of. Not yet, although computers certainly effect almost everyone in the world, in one way or another.

I would have to say communication, by any means. and fire, and also more recently, the computer, without it surely we wouldnt be writing this stuff, but everything would be so different, no internet, windows, bill gates, microsoft, apple, linux, all wouldnt be a part of reality.

I'de have to say man's greatest achievement was the invention of beer and his worst would have to be the creation of organized religion.

[edit on 19-10-2005 by Astronomer68]

Dragons got it right. I've had this discussion allot more then once in my day.

The written word is the greatest tool and advancement in the entire history of mankind. Here's why:

Before the written word all knowledge was passed word of mouth from one generation to the next. Most of it was lost or neglected and every generation was limited in whatever field their tribe happened to be proficient in. Farmers were good at farming but not at hunting or healing. Sure, they knew a bit about it but not enough to make them experts.

With the written word mankind began to accumulate knowledge. We wrote it down and put it into texts and scrolls and eventually books. We carved it into walls with hiroglyphics (sp) and painted it on the walls of caves. We began to leave a paper trail.

It was only thru the accumulation of knowledge that we actually began to make progress. We signed peace treaties with neighboring tribes before we killed them and stole their libraries. The accumulation of knowledge has lead us to where we are today.

The written word was our most fantastic achievement.

Just my thoughts on it.

Love and light,

Wupy

the largest impact on our world, imho

the written word. It allows us to build on prior generations accomplishments. Without it, we'd be stuck with verbal history and local knowledge only. Very limiting

agriculture. allows a few to feed the many, which allows the many to specialize in areas other than finding enough food to survive today.

ac/dc. where is the internet without the juice ?

apollo 11

tv remote control

1. High protein diets. Man's early ancestor began to eat meat, they began to ingest and consume high amounts of protein which almost undoubtedly higher brain capacity and functions. This would lead to speech, the ability to use tools which then lead to walking up right.

2. Isaac Newton's Principia. Surprisingly a decade after the third edition was published we went through an engineering revolution.