The Rifle of Course! - FORBES POLL

[longrifleman]

The knife. And by extension, all other material shaping tools. That is the beginning of our rise to our present place.

It's not exactly a tool as it would probably be defined in this poll but an important major step was domestication of animals (along with farming). Without that wheels, plows etc would be of limited use.

 

[Ala Dan]

I didn't see Handgun, so I voted for the Rifle.

 

[Flyboy]

Another problem is that many of those qualify as "inventions" only under the loosest definition of the word. I'd prefer to take a line from the patent office, and require that things be non-obvious. The broom? Pretty obvious. Ditto with the knife--even though it was highly influential, in all its various forms (including swords), it undoubtedly occurred naturally in its first form as a sharp rock, and everything else was just experimentation. The needle and the spoon are similarly obvious.

Personally, I'd go with lysander's printing press. Particularly given why it was invented: Gutenberg invented it to duplicate the Bible and bring religion to the common man. That not only made possible the Protestant revolution (see: Martin Luther), but also went a long way toward instilling the idea that the people could have power, and could work on their own, rather than being commanded from on high. Bringing the source of religious knowledge directly to the people removes the power from the Church in a highly religious society (as we had in the middle ages), and gives it to the people. (The idea can be extended to secular knowledge, but in history, it was religion.) It also allowed the people to see for the first time the tremendous corruption in the leadership (in this case, the Catholic power structure), thus producing the catalyst for change. This has been a recurring theme throughout history; for instance, look at the American Revolution. Without the printing press, the ability of the revolutionaries to spread the news of the Crown's abuses, what are the odds we'd have had a revolution at all, or that it would have turned out the way it did? Further, that egalitarian spirit formed the basis of our government; what kind of government do you think we'd have if the people had never been introduced to the idea of reading the data and making their own decisions?

 

[lysander]

What? No bites on Air Conditioning?

AC Rules!!!

It made long work days in the hot city office buildings possible in the summer...amongst other things....

Without AC we couldn't have turned Phoenix into a giant sprawl of fancy McMansions, cause it gets hot in Arizona.

 

[Cesiumsponge]

The most important aspect of A/C is probably the hauling of very perishable goods that would otherwise spoil. Though, A/C (and in parallel the concept of the heat exchanger used in items like fridges) put the iceman out of business!

 

[Dave R]

Lame list. I didn't see what I wanted to vote for. Printing press.

Pen is mightier than the sword, and all that.

 

[Standing Wolf]

The Lewis lead remover.

 

[Tory]

Specious Anthropology

"The Inca, Aztecs and Mayans as advanced as they were (especially in mathematics) never developed the wheel and thus their civilizations ground to a halt eventually and faded away."

And in what way, shape, manner or form did the absence of the wheel cause this?

First, the Mayans HAD the wheel - they just did not use it for transportation.

Second, note that the Inca were invaded by the Spanish, armed with guns, horses and disease. Think THOSE might have been factors?

Third, there were EXTENSIVE road networks and trade that ran from Central America into what is now Arizona and New Mexico - all without the wheel.

Ever consider plague, weather (drought-caused famine) or the general population abandoning a corrupt and failed ruler as reasons for the end of these civilizations? Any of those dependent upon the wheel?

The Greeks under Phillip and Alexander had wheels; those empires fell. Rome had wheels - it fell. Do did Babylon, Persia and the Ottoman Turks.

So how did the mere absence of the wheel single-handledly cause the collapse of THREE separate cultures?

 

[dpesec]

Knife for me

All civilizations have created the knife in one form or aonther. I do think the rifle was the most important invention in the field of warfare and hunting.

 

[dpesec]

lysander

Yes A/C helps make life easier, but also remember it made it easier for Congress to stay in session. Before that, the CongressCritters would scurry home like cockroaches when the light comes on.
I wonder if we could outlaw A/C in the Capitol, perhaps in all government buildings inside the beltway. Some of the "civial masters" are worse than those CongressCritters
Now for our friend CWS, a portable/personal unit would be ok

 

[Werewolf]

So how did the mere absence of the wheel single-handledly cause the collapse of THREE separate cultures?

The Aztec and Mayan cultures essentially collapsed because they destroyed their agricultural base and could not feed their populations.

Yes they had extensive road networks but moved everything by foot. With the wheel they could have moved large quantities of food from where it was to where it was needed. They couldn't do that and the population centers where the ruling classes lived just faded away.

The same applies to a lesser extent to the Inca though I will agree as you pointed out that the Spanish were the primary influence.

As an aside: It is quite possible that had the pre-columbian central and south american civs developed the wheel that when the Spanish arrived they could easily have had civilizations that stood on an equal footing with those of Europe. The wheel is one of the 3 basic machines (wheel, screw, lever) from which all other machines trace their development. Without the wheel no civ can go very far (in a technological sense).

 

[Don't Tread On Me]

Abacus-Helped in doing calculations, there were other counting methods. Not that important in the greater scheme of things.

Barometer: I don't understand how this can compete with the othe selections. Knowing the pressure outside?

Broom: This isn't the exclusive method of keeping clean.

Candle: This wasn't the exclusive method of producing light. Light at night wasn't that critical before the advent of electricity. If anything, night time didn't become the part of life that it is today until electricity/lightbulb.

Chisel: This helped man to build monuments. Monuments usually for Gods. It didn't help innovate anything else. Gave us a new way to write or do record keeping.

Compass: Great for navigation obviously. Too bad that most discovery occured without one (comparatively).

Condom: Impact on humanity? Birth Control has been around a long time before this. For STD prevention...well ok. But STD's aren't mandatory.

Corkscrew: Not even close.

Eyeglasses: This is a great invention, but it doesn't impact humanity since people with good vision would have progressed the world regardless.

Fishhook: Net fishing existed. This isn't that big.

Floppy disk: Gimme a break.

Gas Chromatograph: Naaa

Harness: Nope

Knife: Now this is a good one. Knife came in handy.

Lathe: No.

Level: Like the chisel, it was handy in building monuments and structures. And these were often not involved in innovating other things. Perhaps certain structures like aqeducts etc...still, not major impact on humanity.

Longbow: This has been in my opinion, detrimental to human civilization. This was another innovation and weapon of war that allowed monarchies and aristocracies to maintain power.

Mouse: Like the floppy disk, nope.

Needle: This was big in for the world of sowing. We could then make garments to wear. But this is secondary to the invention of rope/thread.

Paper clip: Not even close. This must be a filler item.

Pencil: Writing existed in many forms. Chisel, painting, quill pen. Cavement painted with blood on cave walls. That is a form of communication.

Pot: As in weed? ***?

Remote control: No impact, except it made our society more coutch potatos.

Rifle: This is the item that has the single most greatest impact on human civilization. The entire concept of human rights does NOT exist without the rifle. That is more important than anything else. Democracy doesn't exist without the rifle. Our entire way of life today rests almost soley on the rifle. Prior to the rifle, it was impossible for the poor, the weak, and the unskilled to overthrow tyrannical rule. Kings, Emporers, and such all ceased to exist. Aristocracies ceased to exist because of the rifle.

This empowered ANY man to be able to physically fight any other man. This brough parity to all of human kind. Prior to this, swords, armor, and the skills were kept the domain of the rich and powerful. This ended the monopoly of power, which changed mankind from its reduntant cycle of tyrant after tyrant.

Saw: This increased and improved our building capability. Pretty big.

Scale: Measurement tool, like the abacus, it helped form early "markets".

Scythe: mmmm, not that big imo. Different parts of the world lived on without farming. This isn't that big.

Spoon: People used to eat with their hands. While it did impact humanity, a lot of people still don't use these.

Sword: This, like the long-bow, hurt mankind. This is a weapon of great skill and power. It is a weapon that is only effective when used in groups, like militaries. As such, it had no usefulness for the poor, the minorities.

It did one good thing. Without it, like another noted above, we wouldn't have gained the knowledge in metal working and materials to then develop the firearm.

Syringe: Very good, but there are more than one way to take medicines.

Telescope: This is huge. This impacted humanity by changing our world view, and how we see ourselves in the "bigger" picture. It has raised new questions, and that has effected who we are.

Toothbrush: Good thing, not an impact.

Watch: If they mean "time keeping", that is huge. It is critical to the modernizing of our society. The progress of business. The progress of some innovation etc...However, strict timekeeping wasn't absolutely critical up until 150 years ago. Maybe more recently.

 

[Tory]

Firearms fantasies

"Democracy doesn't exist without the rifle."

Really. Care to explain ancient Greece and Republican Rome?

"Our entire way of life today rests almost soley [sic] on the rifle."

Yeah, credit, computers and mass communication have so little to do with our daily lives and our rifles so much.....

"Prior to the rifle, it was impossible for the poor, the weak, and the unskilled to overthrow tyrannical rule."

News to Julius Caesar and Phillip of Macedon, each of whom were assassinated without your wonder weapon. Ever hear of Spartacus? Boudicca? The Mongols, Vandals, or Goths? Do you know ANY history?

Note that rifles also ALLOW dictators to:

1. TAKE power; and

2. KEEP power.

Every solution creates a problem....

"Aristocracies ceased to exist because of the rifle."

Great news to people in China, North Korea, Indonesia......... And the major fall of European aristocracies was the social upheaval and ruin from WWI; NOT general armed uprisings against heads of state. The Tsar was ARRESTED during a period of paralysis with the Duma; he was not murdered until Lenin seized power. Kaiser Wilhelm ABDICATED and died in his dotage.

 

[iapetus]

If by "civilization" you mean a society with cities and associated infrastructure, then the civil-engineering tools (e.g. chisle and level) are going to be very importent, at least if you want anything like good roads, aquaducts, large, durable buildings, etc...

If you mean the whole of Human development, I'd say the Knife (starting with the stone version), and Fire (not on the list). Enabled us to go from being naked apes to the most devestatingly effective predator on the planet.

In the more modern age, I think I'd go for the Printing Press (again, not on the list). A rifle may allow you to fight for... something. But the printing press allows everyone to have the idea to fight, and the ideals to fight for in the first place.

 

[Hobie]

Sorry I vote knife not rifle. The knife was developed into myriad cutting tools including weapons. It was no doubt the inspiration for the wedge and hence the lever. Just my take, it no longer really matters.