The greatest ever achievement of mankind?

Wibbs

Ashley Nervous Stubble wrote: »

Walking upright.

Funny enough not so much S. For a long time it was understandably believed that this freed our hands to make tools and tech and all that, but we and other apes species were walking upright for millions of years before our brains started the growth spurt that continued until we showed up(and then oddly slightly reversed. Humans of 40,000 has slightly larger brains than folks today).

One thing that seems to have started that change was the harnessing of fire(makes more foodstuffs and nutrients available and safer) so that would be one of the first on my list.

The stone handaxe. The tool in use for longer than any other in human history. From there we made ever more complex tools to shape our environment. I have a few in my collection of tat and to hold one in the hand never fails to inspire a sense of wow. Never mind they fit the hand so well. Showing how little the human hand has changed for 100's of 1000's of years.

Art and abstract thinking. The cave paintings in France and Spain etc look lovely but they show the human mind asking abstract questions and attempting to answer them.

Domestication of the grain. Planting crops gives rise to the idea of ownership of land and resources, which in turn gives rise to symbols to to demonstrate this which is writing(the first writing mostly consists of this is my shite and there's X amount of it, feck off, signed Ugg), which also begets field boundaries and measurement which means maths and building walls and storage houses(and pottery) and drainage and irrigation which gives you engineering and when the population grows because of the extra grub then you get laws and armies to defend your shite and rulers and gods that promise to. And you get the concept of money of course. And all that ends up with computers and spaceships and the like.

So yeah I'd go for the domestication of the grain as the most important achievement of humanity.

Former Observer

I saw Jedward one time many years ago on the kiddies train in Fota Wildlife park. They were all smiles, and giggling like school girls enjoying all the attention they were getting but when I raised my hand to give them a high five as they streamed past neither one of the boys reciprocated.

joe40

I think maybe learning to control fire. Burning is a chemical reaction so the first humans to light fires were in effect the start of chemistry.
Fire meant that we could survive cold weather, and cook food which otherwise would be undigestible.
Settlements and they development of civilization, all followed.

Edgware

Former Observer wrote: »

I saw Jedward one time many years ago on the kiddies train in Fota Wildlife park. They were all smiles, and giggling like school girls enjoying all the attention they were getting but when I raised my hand to give them a high five as they streamed past neither one of the boys reciprocated.

Did they even give you two fingers?

Mr.Maroon

Antibiotics.

kunst nugget

Wibbs wrote: »

Funny enough not so much S. For a long time it was understandably believed that this freed our hands to make tools and tech and all that, but we and other apes species were walking upright for millions of years before our brains started the growth spurt that continued until we showed up(and then oddly slightly reversed. Humans of 40,000 has slightly larger brains than folks today).

One thing that seems to have started that change was the harnessing of fire(makes more foodstuffs and nutrients available and safer) so that would be one of the first on my list.

The stone handaxe. The tool in use for longer than any other in human history. From there we made ever more complex tools to shape our environment. I have a few in my collection of tat and to hold one in the hand never fails to inspire a sense of wow. Never mind they fit the hand so well. Showing how little the human hand has changed for 100's of 1000's of years.

Art and abstract thinking. The cave paintings in France and Spain etc look lovely but they show the human mind asking abstract questions and attempting to answer them.

Domestication of the grain. Planting crops gives rise to the idea of ownership of land and resources, which in turn gives rise to symbols to to demonstrate this which is writing(the first writing mostly consists of this is my shite and there's X amount of it, feck off, signed Ugg), which also begets field boundaries and measurement which means maths and building walls and storage houses(and pottery) and drainage and irrigation which gives you engineering and when the population grows because of the extra grub then you get laws and armies to defend your shite and rulers and gods that promise to. And you get the concept of money of course. And all that ends up with computers and spaceships and the like.

So yeah I'd go for the domestication of the grain as the most important achievement of humanity.

You could add monogamy to that list.

Once a monogamous primate father starts to stick around, he has the opportunity to raise the odds that his offspring will survive. He can carry them, groom their fur and protect them from attacks.

In our own lineage, however, fathers went further. They had evolved the ability to hunt and scavenge meat, and they were supplying some of that food to their children. “They may have gone beyond what is normal for monogamous primates,” said Dr. Opie.

The extra supply of protein and calories that human children started to receive is widely considered a watershed moment in our evolution. It could explain why we have brains far bigger than other mammals.

Brains are hungry organs, demanding 20 times more calories than a similar piece of muscle. Only with a steady supply of energy-rich meat, Dr. Opie suggests, were we able to evolve big brains — and all the mental capacities that come with it.

Because of monogamy, Dr. Opie said, “This could be how humans were able to push through a ceiling in terms of brain size.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/02/science/monogamys-boost-to-human-evolution.html

magic_murph

taco fries

Feisar

igCorcaigh wrote: »

Language

This is probably it really, at least in a broader sense. Our ability to collaborate and develop.

nthclare

The paper clip.

branie2

Landing on the moon

Former Observer

Literature, music, art. Everything else is a distraction.

Sky King

Getting people to pay for water in bottles. Fking water. Which is both everywhere and free.

dodderangler

The kardashians
Only mankind could make them talentless gob****es billionaires

the pre-credit sequence to super troopers

Boom_Bap

Seedless Jam

Larbre34

Sky King wrote: »

Getting people to pay for water in bottles. Fking water. Which is both everywhere and free.

It isn't and it isn't.

Skylinehead

One eyed Jack wrote: »

Greatest ever achievement of mankind?

I suppose the fact that we’ve managed to survive this long in spite of every attempt by humans to wipe ourselves out of existence! We’ve made some truly extraordinary fcuk ups, particularly the development of nuclear weapons... and yet somehow, we’re still here!

We've not had a good war in a while precisely because of nuclear weapons. The consequences, those being global extinction, are a bit much for geopolitical scheming.

Of course, that doesn't account for the one madman that will probably start a nuclear war eventually.

Muahahaha

The invention of the printing press gave us a giant leap forward in terms of the spread of knowledge and education

MarkY91

When you watch videos on how far the moon is to the earth with objects like tennis balls representing earth and the distance is relative to their size..it's actually quite mind boggling that men were actually such a distance from every other human being in history.

Omackeral

The ignore button

we normalise a lot of amazing technology very quickly these days, but throw a kindle/mp3 player into the mix as well

thousands of years of refinement of music and literature and the end results tailored to your preference available in your pocket with a practically infinite range of choice for a monthly fee equivalent to something less than an hour's work.

if it all hadnt happened so quickly you would be staggered at the achievement really

Simi

alchemist33 wrote: »

Making stars out of Jedward?


Or what happened 50 years ago, when three brave men took off on a giant explosive device and spent three days in the vacuum of space, landed on a rock, and got back safely again? All planned by hundreds of very smart people with computing power a fraction of your smartphone's. There have been probably advancements in medicine and society that have saved hundreds of thousands of lives and made everyone's lives better, but for the sheer audacity, teamwork and organisation, the moon landing must be our greatest achievement so far.

Agreed, landing on the moon a mere 65 years after the invention of powered flight, with the comparatively primitive technology of the time, is and will likely forever be our great achievement.

It's simply not comparable to anything else, vaccines, farming etc. were all gradual natural progressions in development. The Apollo program set out a seemingly impossible goal and achieved it by pushing human ingunity to it's limits!

riffmongous

Former Observer wrote: »

I saw Jedward one time many years ago on the kiddies train in Fota Wildlife park. They were all smiles, and giggling like school girls enjoying all the attention they were getting but when I raised my hand to give them a high five as they streamed past neither one of the boys reciprocated.

That story belongs in the Mankind's Greatest Crimes thread, you NEVER leave someone hanging

branie2

Films

markjbloggs

The Alphabet. Greek or Phoenician, take your pick.

mariaalice

Learning to cultivate spuds.

wing52

You cant ignore the auld wheel.

A few spokes never went astray either!

Junkyard Tom

Clean water. Fresh clean water for drinking, sanitation, and sewerage.

Your Face

The Transistor

Infernal Racket

alchemist33 wrote: »

Making stars out of Jedward?


Or what happened 50 years ago, when three brave men took off on a giant explosive device and spent three days in the vacuum of space, landed on a rock, and got back safely again? All planned by hundreds of very smart people with computing power a fraction of your smartphone's. There have been probably advancements in medicine and society that have saved hundreds of thousands of lives and made everyone's lives better, but for the sheer audacity, teamwork and organisation, the moon landing must be our greatest achievement so far.

Never happened