Mathematics
Throughout history, humans have been incessantly improving on what came before. It’s this drive, and this insistence on bettering ourselves and our kind, that has produced what many would consider to be greatness. Humans just can’t seem to stop being curious about all the things they can build, discover, and create…
While some of the inventions that humans have developed are more appealing for their innovation than their actual function, others revolutionized the way we think or live in ways we’d never anticipated before. So we took to the internet to get opinions on what creations or ideas changed the course of history the most, and according to the many who chimed in, here’s our rundown of some of the greatest things humanity has achieved or created…
Electricity
I know the things that would naturally show up on a list of humanity’s greatest achievements: things involving science, discovery, the fight against ignorance. But something else had to come first, before all of that. I’m talking about mathematics, of course.
Wrapping the human brain around the ideas of proof, objective reality, the relationships between factual statements….Without these advances, nothing else to follow would have been possible. Math is a cornerstone of all advancement. Reddit User: [redacted]
Opposable Thumbs
Clearly electricity is the greatest discovery in history. Just think about everything that electricity is absolutely essential for. First, basic conveniences like microwaves and computers. Second, having lighting that isn’t crazy expensive and is available 24/7 is a massive advance.
Electricity enables much higher productivity, not only of individuals but for all businesses as well. But it also enables futuristic advances such as pacemakers and even human spaceflight. It’s the bedrock of all other advances! Reddit User: DopTopEWop
The Wheel
Not all our advances were intentional or the result of concerted human activity. When you think about it, evolutionary advances are even more foundational than anything else. Human’s ability to grip tools, perform tasks that very few other species can.
Some of those include the ability to write, shake hands in cool ways… these are all the result of our thumbs! Regardless of how we ended up with them, I’m just happy I have thumbs and everything else they permitted us to have. Reddit User: Diet-Other
Aviation
Transportation was honestly the original Internet. Nobody would have invented anything out there if it still took years or lifetimes to get us from one city to another. And even much less from one country or continent to another. Traveling from one place to another really changed everything.
The ability to transport people and goods long distances very quickly was the root of commerce. And that commerce begat innovation and cooperation amongst people in different place, which helped begat all other advances. All hail the wheel! Reddit User: Tige6032
Medicine
Yes, the wheel was extremely important because it enabled transport, but only between places connected by land. Naval travel helped, but it was still beset by many problems: namely, it was very, very slow. You know what enables the modern economy to function?
The ability to go from the US to Japan in basically a single day! And all of that certainly would not be even remotely possible without airplanes and aviation. Thank you, Wright Brothers, you did a good job by your first flight at Kitty Hawk! Reddit User: sammysummer
Fire
Remember the days when you could get an illness and it was a death sentence? No, you don’t. Or even just a small cut on your foot leading to sepsis and an incredibly painful demise? Oh, you don’t? That’s because we invented and discovered medicines and antimicrobials.
These inventions made formerly incurable ailments treatable and could handle infections that weren’t responding to gentler treatment. We still have to be careful, though. Resistance to medicine is on the horizon, and our progress is not ensured. Reddit User: carbinolic
Nuclear Energy
Sure, we didn’t “invent” fire, but we did need to leap through some hoops in order to figure out how to domesticate it and bring it forth on demand. That’s no simple feat. I mean, have you ever gone camping and just tried to start a fire in the woods without a dry match?
And that’s once you already know what you’re doing! From cooking to heating to other various forms of power ( like steam or fossil fuels, to name a few), fire is the source of the very energy of human progress. Hats off to fire! Reddit User: M3ntal1sm
Nuclear Weapons
Fire is one thing, but what about an energy source many orders of magnitude more powerful than simply burning biomass from nature? Of course, we’re talking about nuclear energy. Whatever your feelings about whether it’s good or bad, the savior or the Devil, it is certainly impressive and world-changing in its existence!
Nuclear power yes has led to some horrific accidents, but it’s also led to the provision of immense amounts of non-fossil fuel energy. This one is certainly a two-headed coin because of the incidents that occurred, but it definitely must be included! Reddit User: birds_licker
Going To The Moon
Nuclear power was a big deal, but it was really an outgrowth of an initiative aimed at something else entirely: the invention of the most destructive weapons created by humankind. Nuclear weapons, and the threat of nuclear holocaust, grew out of the desperation of WWII and have haunted humanity ever since.
Yet even these weapons will have their defenders. There are many out there who truly believe that the deterrent effect of these massive weapons actually helps in preventing wars, even as it raises the prospect of the worst war ever! Reddit User: [redacted]
Agriculture
For all of human history, we have looked skyward in the darkness of the night and marveled at the sight of the glowing white orb: the moon that looms so prominently in the sky. We have imagined and studied its effects on us, calling it an aphrodisiac, the goddess of the tides, and so much more.
Yet few in antiquity would have imagined that humankind would one day set foot on the surface of the Moon. Yet in 1969 that’s exactly what we ended up doing. It inspired generations to literally aim for the stars and keep dreaming. Thank you human ingenuity! Reddit User: eddmario
The Printing Press
How would you like to spend half your day, every day, looking for food to eat? And on some days, would you like to fail to find any food, resulting in you and your family having to go to sleep hungry? I seriously doubt that you would enjoy that very much.
You have the practice and knowledge of agriculture to thank for that. Humans going from finding food to creating food enabled us to settle and build civilizations. Everything around you today is the result of that one fundamental change. Reddit User: [redacted]
WD-40
Do we really think any scientific advances would have been possible without the rapid (and cheap) dissemination of human knowledge? How could science have advanced as fast as it currently has been without the ability for many to quickly read what just a few had discovered?
For this, we have the printing press to thank. Invented by Johannes Gutenberg in the 1400s, it has been so monumental to humanity’s development, it has to be on the list. The fact that you’re even reading this article right now is the result of that astounding invention! Reddit User: Jaredrap
Computers
I mean, come on guys, you may think that this is a joke, but bear with me for just a minute. I’m not exactly defending WD-40 specifically, but rather lubrication as a whole. You like the wheel? Needs lube. What about steam power? Lube is key! Aviation?
How long do you think a propeller would work without any sort of lubrication? Using slippery substances for essential tasks is crucial. Even cooking basic foods and buttering your bread in the morning for breakfast requires lube! Reddit User: [redacted]
Basic Sanitation Practices
The human brain has ingenuity, but we are only able to harness a small amount of our total processing power (and even to do so, we must use heuristics that degrade our accuracy). Suddenly in comes the concept of simple computation to figure out math problems quickly.
From the earliest abacus to the most recent MacBook, computers enable us to go beyond our brains. The mathematical precision involved in computers forms the bedrock for so much else in innovation. It’s the reason progress is happening so fast now! Reddit User: cpietr01
The Germ Theory Of Disease
Think about it for a second: humans honestly used to live in absolute filth. Even something so simple that we take for granted today as a doctor, nurse, or midwife washing his or her hands before delivering a child has saved countless lives around the world.
The invention of soap and its use to clean ourselves and avoid spreading illness is key! It enables a smoothly functioning society and helps to avoid the kinds of collapses that come with epidemics and plagues. Thank you, soap! Reddit User: MachineGunTeacher
Discovering Other Worlds
Soap is important, but knowing why we’re using it honestly is just as important. Back in the day, people used to think that disease was spread by bad smells. It was called the “miasma” theory. That’s actually where the term “malaria” (meaning “bad air”) comes from!
But we found out over time that germs exist. And that original misconception of not knowing where germs really come from led to all sorts of bad policies and death through history. Figuring out that pathogens existed and made us sick was truly groundbreaking! Reddit User: [redacted]
Drinkable Water
Coming up with the knowledge that we’re not alone, at least in terms of physical space, in the universe was immense. It not only enabled space travel, but it also brought human intelligence to bear on some of the most fundamental questions of existence.
One of these questions is where the world might have come from. The only thing I can think of that would rival this discovery would be finding out that we’re not alone, in terms of life, in the universe, but we’ll have to wait and see for that one. Reddit User: fble500
Pasteurization
Learning how to purify our water to make it safe to drink was a massive boon for human health. Sure, cooking helped us avoid getting ill through eating food that was raw, but access to safe water no matter where one is living is truly something that has helped everybody.
It has enabled human populations to expand in ways otherwise unimaginable. Sadly, despite the knowledge of how to purify water, it’s still not entirely accessible around the world due to cost considerations. We need to fix that! Reddit User: Theta_Sigmaaa
The Fall Of The Berlin Wall
Pasteurization may not be the most famous invention on this list, but I guarantee that it’s impacted your daily life in more ways than you might know. Pasteurization is the practice of heating packaged foods, usually to a lower temperature than required to boil water, to kill bacteria.
Pasteurization is the reason that you have shelf-stable foods, why you can actually eat on airplanes, and why some people who can’t handle fresh milk in their system can actually still drink milk at all. Thank you very much Louis Pasteur. Reddit User: [redacted]
The Birth Of Philosophy
Can we consider the destruction of something that was previously created be a great achievement? I certainly like to think so. And in terms of potential impact on the human race, ending the Cold War should definitely rank near the top of everybody’s list.
The nuclear standoff between the East and the West was probably the closest humanity has ever come to total extinction. Ending that possibility was essential for ensuring the survival of the human race, and collapsing the old USSR was the key to unlocking that process. Reddit User: wavy2231
What A Tool
Most of people’s choices for “greatest achievements” humanity has ever made will be focusing on the world’s major discoveries throughout history. That would fall under the creation of answers to questions where the form and the goal are clearly known.
But the precondition for knowing what we even want is thinking through questions of ethics, desire, intention, and more. As a result, I think the invention of philosophy is the single greatest thing humans have ever done. Hats off to the first person to ever ask “why?” Reddit User: entropyx1
Battle Of Thermopylae
Although I don’t know what exactly the first “tool” ever used technically was, I believe that was the key moment that distinguished humans as intelligent and enabled all subsequent human progress. Maybe it was a hammer, or a sharp piece of rock used to cut into meat.
Maybe it was something else entirely. Either way, we should probably all be thankful that at some point our ancestors at the beginning of the human race decided to say to themselves, “Hey, what if I can use this thing to do something else?” Reddit User: kippersmoker
Fermentation
People love to measure the significance or greatness of an act simply based on great its effects were down the road and whether it changed the world or not. In other words, something is only great because it has far-reaching consequences, and what that led to.
Instead, I want to think about the inherent greatness of the act itself, i.e., how awe-inspiring it is. I’ll propose that the Battle of Thermopylae, when 300 Spartans laid down their lives to hold off the entire Persian army, was pretty dope. Read about it! Reddit User: Somethingfishy4
The Haber-Bosch Process
I personally happen to love cheese and am so glad it was invented. But more broadly, back in the day, some wise person realized that not everything that spoils is totally bad. And if we let things spoil a bit, they don’t spoil in ways that are actually dangerous.
And even more than that, they also actually taste good. And from there, things sort of just kept on developing into more interesting foods. Today, we have that lucky discovery to thank for everything from cheese to kimchee, yogurt, and beer. Reddit User: gmkeros
Microprocessors
Things that mattered significantly in the past may not be as significant today, and I don’t want to get caught in the trap of saying preconditions must be more awesome than the things they allow if you get what I mean. By that standard, I nominate the Haber-Bosch process.
This process is a form of nitrogen fixation that currently enables massively higher agricultural yields. Something like 40% of the world’s population would not be able to eat without this discovery. So, in a world of massive global populations, this takes the cake for me. Reddit User: Radiowl
Motion Pictures
Odds are that you’re probably reading this on your phone or tablet. And if you’re not, you’re certainly reading it on a computer that is many orders of magnitude way more powerful, and many orders of magnitude smaller, than anything that existed long before it.
It was certainly more powerful and smaller than what existed in the early days of computing devices and electrically-powered components in general. The process of shrinking processors has enabled us to spread the benefits of computing across the world, from government labs to private homes, and into every minute aspect of our lives. Talk about impactful! Reddit User: jaws918
Higgs-Boson Detection
We’ve lived with television and movies for so long in our modern lives that it sometimes seems the opposite of revolutionary to us; it might as well be downright boring. But when I posed the question of “great achievements” to my 88-year-old grandmother, this was her immediate answer.
And after thinking about it a little, I agree with her. In terms of creating a shared global culture and intercultural understanding, nothing compares to television (there are even large parts of the world that have TV but not internet). Reddit User: katienatie
Our Genetic Code
I mean, how could anything take the top prize on a list of achievements other than the amazing discovery of something that scientists colloquially refer to as the “god particle.” Yes, this is the real name they have for this, which is how influential it is.
After decades of research, scientists finally were able to confirm the existence of the particle that gives mass to everything else. Although we don’t yet have massive spinoff results (or even know what they’ll be), the long-term consequences from this discovery will be immense! Reddit User: ecky–ptang-zooboing
Crispy Crispy CRISPR
The sequencing of the human genome was a massive project to undertake and will have innumerable impacts on our lives and humanity for millennia to come. Just think for a second about everything that we can do now that was completely impossible to do before.
We can match DNA at a crime scene, we can determine probabilities of disease, we can predict your appearance, and much more. As we learn more about what DNA means, the impacts of this discovery will only grow. And just wait until we can start manipulating DNA…. Reddit User: apoenzyme
The Cotton Gin
We’re already on our way toward manipulating human genetics, so there’s no real way that CRISPR could stay off this list of achievements. Essentially, scientists figured out how to “snip” out parts of your genetic code and replace them with different encodings.
They can do this to actual, living beings while they’re alive! In the future, CRISPR will enable us to cure diseases that we never thought possible. But it also raises serious ethical considerations: how far should the manipulation of human genetic code really go? Reddit User: [redacted]
The Best Thing Since…
Sometimes the simplest inventions are the most wide-ranging in terms of impact (and sometimes that impact ends up being far from good, despite anyone’s intentions otherwise). When Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin at the end of the 1700s, he thought he just found a way to make clothing production cheaper.
Instead, he ended up prolonging slavery by decades. At the time, the economics of slavery were on the fritz, but Whitney’s invention provided the economic rationale for expanding the institution, destroying countless lives in the process! Reddit User: MitchellStarkey
The Internet
Sliced bread has to be on this list! I’m sorry everyone, but whatever you’ve said other than this, you’re wrong. Electricity to power your toaster? Who cares about that? Pasteurization so that you can spread jam or butter on your toast? Just come on.
All I care about is that I can go to the grocery store and get that bread… already sliced. I would never buy bread any other way. And, yes, before you ask, Swiss cheese is also near the top of my list. There’s a reason these things are common expressions! Reddit User: TheRationalMan
The Hubble Space Telescope
Sure, electricity enabled the invention of the Internet, but the Internet wasn’t a necessary or logical next step after that. It honestly required ingenuity, imagination, daring, and a solid bit of government seed funding in order for it to ever become a reality.
And the result? A globally interconnected human population that can research and learn at the touch of a button. It’s the internet that enables us to rise above parochialism, and interact with those half a world away. It’s a true evolution of the species! Reddit User: MicrowaveNuts
Mosquito Nets and Bug Spray
Some inventions really completely knocked it out of the park when “are you serious?” became part of the conversation. The Hubble Space Telescope is certainly one of those inventions. It has truly enabled countless discoveries about the nature of the universe.
It led to discover even including things that cannot be seen directly (like attributes of black holes). Think about how complex your average backyard telescope is these days. Now imagine one thousands of times bigger…and in space, just doing its job! It’s truly astounding. Reddit User: Justananomaly
Democracy
This one is a bit of a two-part invention. First, the actual discovery that mosquitos can spread some mosquito-borne illness like malaria and other diseases. The second has to be the invention of basic methods for humans avoiding getting mosquito bites.
According to recent studies, mosquitos are responsible for killing about half of all people who have ever been born in history. So hats off to the scientists who discovered that these menacing creatures were responsible for everything from malaria to dengue and yellow fevers, and to the inventors who gave us stuff like DEET. Reddit User: [redacted]
The United Nations
Autocratic governments have been responsible for the destruction of progress and innovation throughout human history. And, moreover, many of the achievements on the list of “the greatest in human history” were only able to enabled by supportive governments.
Think of the moon landing, germ research, the Internet. These were only possible because of the government helping. So, obviously, the form of government in a place matters. Government by and for the people, by promoting things like free inquiry, speech, and association, has been the greatest force for progress in history! Reddit User: [redacted]
Since humanity first ever conceived of the idea of nations (and likely before even that, since there were still socio-politically organized clusters of activity that operated together), nationalism has been an inevitable source of too many conflicts and wars.
Even though it is imperfect, I think the fact that we can even think of something like the UN is an immense achievement. It offers us some hope of transcending petty factionalism in the future, and of building a more peaceful, just world. Reddit User: Esiodo
I’m really talking about social media in general here. Without it, we couldn’t even have these sorts of discussions. We would have far fewer cat pictures. We would not have the instant ability to see the most ridiculous fail on the internet on a given day.
We wouldn’t have the ability to instantly get a slew of anonymous answers to our stupidest questions. But in all seriousness, it is pretty nice to have a forum for anything and everything. It’s part of the democratization of the internet, which echoes plenty of (more serious) themes throughout history. Reddit User: [redacted]