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A HERETIC I AM

(24,876 posts)

63. Everything we have comes out of the ground....

Fri Jan 24, 2014, 11:21 AM

Jan 2014

and is turned into the things we use by heat.

I could not agree more re: fire.

The only other one I might have mentioned was shoes/footwear.

I read an argument once for shoes being the most significant advancement humans ever made, more so than the wheel.

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What is the most significant discovery in the history of mankind? [View all] ConcernedCanuk Jan 2014 OP

Womankind. pangaia Jan 2014 #1

ummm . . NO ConcernedCanuk Jan 2014 #2

I am one of YOU'all, not them'all. pangaia Jan 2014 #6

LOL ConcernedCanuk Jan 2014 #15

Agree 100%!!! grahamhgreen Jan 2014 #130

The realisation that there is no God. mr blur Jan 2014 #3

NOPE - we are killing each other by the millions still arguing about that one. ConcernedCanuk Jan 2014 #10

And you can't prove a negative... nt kelliekat44 Jan 2014 #174

The Absolute bananas Jan 2014 #192

The printing press... DonViejo Jan 2014 #4

I was hoping for "discoveries", not inventions so much ConcernedCanuk Jan 2014 #18

There would have been no invention if Johannes Gutenberg hadn't discovered it could be done. eom DonViejo Jan 2014 #177

fire B Calm Jan 2014 #5

Fire Bad!! JoePhilly Jan 2014 #9

LOL B Calm Jan 2014 #34

*snort* jberryhill Jan 2014 #36

DUzy! pinboy3niner Jan 2014 #43

Of course. Unless you wanted to be nitpicky and point out that fire is not a historical brewens Jan 2014 #79

Quest for Fire Blue_In_AK Jan 2014 #112

That was beautiful. Iggo Jan 2014 #171

I bought that DVD a few months back ConcernedCanuk Jan 2014 #203

Nuclear meltdowns are huggable, not mean like we used to think they were. nt ChisolmTrailDem Jan 2014 #94

Soap. n/t tammywammy Jan 2014 #7

Then ya gotta train men to use it! ConcernedCanuk Jan 2014 #47

Why- it's sliced white bread of course! notadmblnd Jan 2014 #8

When we learned how to use a stick. hobbit709 Jan 2014 #11

Gravity(mass), the speed of light, pangaia Jan 2014 #12

Indoor plumbing. JoePhilly Jan 2014 #13

JoePhilly is correct...Indoor Plumbing.. Stuart G Jan 2014 #32

That is an invention, not really a "discovery". ConcernedCanuk Jan 2014 #55

See my post 64# ;-) JoePhilly Jan 2014 #65

Correct, man's greatest invention: Modern plumbing. n/t FSogol Jan 2014 #111

I'd have to put the cannibal rats on the ghost ship way up there pinboy3niner Jan 2014 #14

Only if they have a xombie albatross. riqster Jan 2014 #190

FIRE.... GTurck Jan 2014 #16

Yeah - discovering how to control fire definitely shaped the history of mankind . . . ConcernedCanuk Jan 2014 #27

The ability to control fire required invention. JoePhilly Jan 2014 #64

Everything we have comes out of the ground.... A HERETIC I AM Jan 2014 #63

Probably gunpowder. ananda Jan 2014 #17

Wouldn't be possible without fire ConcernedCanuk Jan 2014 #66

Beer Baclava Jan 2014 #19

Weed grahamhgreen Jan 2014 #131

Let's face it - early man would lick frogs to get high Baclava Jan 2014 #142

Some still do Major Nikon Jan 2014 #169

I suspect you may be reinventing the wheel here pinboy3niner Jan 2014 #20

Many civilizations did not have the wheel until colonial times AngryAmish Jan 2014 #52

Fire! Uben Jan 2014 #21

"Without it, we wouldn't be here" - yes we would - not so many mind you ConcernedCanuk Jan 2014 #42

Germs... SidDithers Jan 2014 #22

Electromagnetism TransitJohn Jan 2014 #23

Sex liberal N proud Jan 2014 #24

Easy question aristocles Jan 2014 #25

omg yes. Niceguy1 Jan 2014 #44

The Internet/computers nt kelliekat44 Jan 2014 #175

written language snooper2 Jan 2014 #26

^^^ This one ^^^ alittlelark Jan 2014 #114

how to plant and maintain food crops nt geek tragedy Jan 2014 #28

Ah, you beat me to it! CTyankee Jan 2014 #140

We agree on something! Pretzel_Warrior Jan 2014 #185

gravity G_j Jan 2014 #29

It really is fire you know tkmorris Jan 2014 #30

Controlling "Fire changed everything" ConcernedCanuk Jan 2014 #45

The hand axe Coyotl Jan 2014 #31

Sharpened point or edge / Fire jberryhill Jan 2014 #33

Self-conscious mythologyzing. Eleanors38 Jan 2014 #35

How about just self-consciousness? Are we the first species that does not just pampango Jan 2014 #46

The brain Glassunion Jan 2014 #53

I thought about that. I used mythology because it seemed to describe best Eleanors38 Jan 2014 #148

Atomic structure. n/t cloudbase Jan 2014 #37

the mute button on my remote spanone Jan 2014 #38

The Hutzler Banana Slicer LiberalEsto Jan 2014 #39

Hilarious underpants Jan 2014 #81

The other comments are equally as clever underpants Jan 2014 #97

That is a marital aid! grahamhgreen Jan 2014 #133

Customers who have viewed this also viewed Pretzel_Warrior Jan 2014 #188

There could be two or more impatient banana lovers in the household LiberalEsto Jan 2014 #207

Quantum Mechanics. nt tridim Jan 2014 #40

Agriculture DFW Jan 2014 #41

Agreed customerserviceguy Jan 2014 #182

Well, the guitar and chocolate were not meant seriously, but Agriculture changed EVERYTHING DFW Jan 2014 #199

Electricity. n/t 1awake Jan 2014 #48

I'll skew a little broad jollyreaper2112 Jan 2014 #49

We became human but not humane. CrispyQ Jan 2014 #96

common ancestry (e.g., you and your dog are relatives) Vattel Jan 2014 #50

The myriad uses of the cannabis plant...... Bennyboy Jan 2014 #51

Interesting concept ConcernedCanuk Jan 2014 #62

The medicinal properties alone can change the world Bennyboy Jan 2014 #68

Language Glassunion Jan 2014 #54

+1 nt Shankapotomus Jan 2014 #168

The words "we" sibelian Jan 2014 #56

Jazz dipsydoodle Jan 2014 #57

to the lives of most people: vaccines and antibiotics. nt La Lioness Priyanka Jan 2014 #58

heliocentrism nt NoGOPZone Jan 2014 #59

Artichokes. nt el_bryanto Jan 2014 #60

Banging the rocks together. Xipe Totec Jan 2014 #61

The discovery of nitrocellulose by Christian Friedrich Sch�nbein FarCenter Jan 2014 #67

For HUMAN Kind it was probably fire kydo Jan 2014 #69

That's a sticky question theHandpuppet Jan 2014 #70

Beer lame54 Jan 2014 #71

I'd say electricity lpbk2713 Jan 2014 #72

The Scientific Method. NT Adrahil Jan 2014 #73

Agriculture Rowdyboy Jan 2014 #74

You beat me to it! KansDem Jan 2014 #93

Just lucky to see the tread first. Its a pretty obvious answer-it made most all the rest possible! Rowdyboy Jan 2014 #102

Faster than light travel (you didn't exclude the future) solarhydrocan Jan 2014 #75

Cheese Incitatus Jan 2014 #76

fire nt Deep13 Jan 2014 #77

This thread reminds me of "Quest for Fire" ... Whiskeytide Jan 2014 #78

I mentioned that movie above before I saw your post. Blue_In_AK Jan 2014 #113

Mine too. Haven't seen it in prob. 20 years. I didn't know... Whiskeytide Jan 2014 #118

I liked that the characters spoke no recognizable language Blue_In_AK Jan 2014 #121

Exactly. You had to pay attention, ... Whiskeytide Jan 2014 #122

Love that film. You can watch it online amerikat Jan 2014 #141

Thanks for the link. Blue_In_AK Jan 2014 #143

A lot of great discoveries for that tribe besides fire. amerikat Jan 2014 #165

Best invention? The automatic timed coffee maker. n/t brewens Jan 2014 #80

The Egg McMuffin and Snuggies underpants Jan 2014 #82

Disease is caused by germs not devils. Lint Head Jan 2014 #83

Sadly, everyone hasn't discovered that yet. n/t FSogol Jan 2014 #85

On the upside...sewage and water treatment on the downside HereSince1628 Jan 2014 #84

Speech/communication Tierra_y_Libertad Jan 2014 #86

Salt laundry_queen Jan 2014 #87

Fire, followed by the wheel nadinbrzezinski Jan 2014 #88

Tools. n/t cherokeeprogressive Jan 2014 #89

The Internet. nt Demo_Chris Jan 2014 #90

How to painstakingly chip a bit of flint into a blade, and how to harness fire. Spider Jerusalem Jan 2014 #91

Agriculture KansDem Jan 2014 #92

I agree, fire. But I'll put in a vote for SALT per Big History. Chiyo-chichi Jan 2014 #95

The use of tools. -nt CrispyQ Jan 2014 #98

That's EXACTLY the picture I had in mind. cherokeeprogressive Jan 2014 #103

Beer and travel money? Rex Jan 2014 #99

godfuckingdammityes AngryAmish Jan 2014 #183

Time. WinkyDink Jan 2014 #100

The concept of shared experience. a la izquierda Jan 2014 #101

Easy and no contest: Moral Philosophy mathematic Jan 2014 #104

Flint thucythucy Jan 2014 #105

Masturbation. William769 Jan 2014 #106

Realizing that sexual intercourse leads to offspring. Igel Jan 2014 #107

Most significant? mankind? SELF AWARENESS...this separated us from the animals how that happened? Drew Richards Jan 2014 #108

sticky lint rollers. nt Javaman Jan 2014 #109

The Brewing Process, of course! FSogol Jan 2014 #110

Discovering that there are plants and other natural substances that help us heal. polichick Jan 2014 #115

Fire. Because only with cooking could we absorb enough nutrients. mainer Jan 2014 #116

It hasn't been made yet Fumesucker Jan 2014 #117

Sid Meier Dash87 Jan 2014 #119

Just one word ... plastics 11 Bravo Jan 2014 #120

Agriculture, Electricity, Germ Theory/Birth Control KittyWampus Jan 2014 #123

Calculus, in the 1650s. It's what makes science possible. Donald Ian Rankin Jan 2014 #124

This week I've gotta say Nyquil. WillowTree Jan 2014 #125

Binary numbers. CJCRANE Jan 2014 #126

Food preservation. Salting, smoking, drying of fruits and vegs, etc. bravenak Jan 2014 #127

happy fun ball arely staircase Jan 2014 #128

'Love begets love, hate begets hate.' grahamhgreen Jan 2014 #129

Scientific method on point Jan 2014 #132

In terms of significance in affecting the largest number of people polly7 Jan 2014 #134

Steam power. Fire came first but discovering how to use the energy from fire by doc03 Jan 2014 #135

Mel Brooks's Thousand Year Old Man says: "Liquid Prell" Squinch Jan 2014 #136

Saran Wrap Boom Sound 416 Jan 2014 #146

sex GeorgeGist Jan 2014 #137

aspirin notundecided Jan 2014 #138

Probably agriculture. CTyankee Jan 2014 #139

Money GreatCaesarsGhost Jan 2014 #144

Germ Theory and Contraception - nt. Jasana Jan 2014 #145

The three obstacles of life Boom Sound 416 Jan 2014 #147

Concrete Xithras Jan 2014 #149

That he/she could stand upright. kairos12 Jan 2014 #150

The Wheel. (has someone else already said it?) n/t Mira Jan 2014 #151

Discovery? Death. Creation? Music. nt valerief Jan 2014 #152

It's still to be admitted but I think the biggest discovery is that Cleita Jan 2014 #153

Life is what you make it. Renew Deal Jan 2014 #157

Still doesn't mean that we won't destroy the environment and ourselves in Cleita Jan 2014 #158

Agriculture, Agnosticsherbet Jan 2014 #154

FIRE!!! VanillaRhapsody Jan 2014 #155

Fire Renew Deal Jan 2014 #156

clumping cat litter (nt) Ino Jan 2014 #159

Written language. gcomeau Jan 2014 #160

The relationship between magnetism and electricity... Blanks Jan 2014 #161

electro-magnetism fadedrose Jan 2014 #181

transistor? GRACIEBIRD Jan 2014 #162

How to harness electricity. kestrel91316 Jan 2014 #163

Symbolic Algebra and the Pythagorean Theorem Sgent Jan 2014 #164

Agriculture Captain Stern Jan 2014 #166

Whiskey Major Nikon Jan 2014 #167

Fire is natural but making it number one. Second is amerikat Jan 2014 #170

Discovering the proper filiment for a working electric light. n/t oneshooter Jan 2014 #172

The Telescope. Savannahmann Jan 2014 #173

the Mayan's didn't need telescopes! VanillaRhapsody Jan 2014 #176

They could have used a microscope. Savannahmann Jan 2014 #179

but they wouldn't have existed at all without the discovery of fire and how to harness it. VanillaRhapsody Jan 2014 #197

The Absolute (moved up-thread) bananas Jan 2014 #178

Bohr's model for atomic structure. It turned out to be simple compared to what is now bluestate10 Jan 2014 #180

The plow Pretzel_Warrior Jan 2014 #184

Fire/Fuel/Energy..... Fire is behind all of our Ages: Bronze, Industrial, etc. NYC_SKP Jan 2014 #186

Totally agree. Benton D Struckcheon Jan 2014 #204

The clitoris milestogo Jan 2014 #187

Saran Wrap. Thus spake the 2000 year old man: riqster Jan 2014 #189

Electric guitar feedback Tom Ripley Jan 2014 #191

language, communication and symbolic abstraction. Warren DeMontague Jan 2014 #193

+1000 !!!! orpupilofnature57 Jan 2014 #202

I'm not saying... Silent3 Jan 2014 #194

Discovering Republicans can speek very clearly with their heads shoved firmly rustydog Jan 2014 #195

Plumbing NobodyHere Jan 2014 #196

Donuts! yortsed snacilbuper Jan 2014 #198

Civil Service Enrique Jan 2014 #200

3-D Printer . Or Water . orpupilofnature57 Jan 2014 #201

Discovery of the Rosetta Stone and the discovery of Alien Life democratisphere Jan 2014 #205

+1000 !!!! orpupilofnature57 Jan 2014 #208

The discovery that many questions have more than one answer. MineralMan Jan 2014 #206