Mans greatest achievement?

money
Without it none of the others are possible.

Well technically, thumbs/walking/etc don't count as they really aren't achievements

Personally, I have to say that our greatest achievement is shelter (housing, fire, etc), because we are the only species on earth that doesn't have to adapt to our environment- we can change it.

And our worst achievement is something close to religion (especially Christianity and Islam), as it/they is/are the single largest historic and modern limitation on progress and equality. (Both are infamously sexist, for example)

reply to post by American Mad Man



man's greatest achievement is understanding the artistically hidden meaning within religious text to derive the actual practical process of evolving past a mere intellectual animal, and becoming a true human being.
to achieve the towering obstacle of disinfo and twisted literalism that the vast majority of religious people believe, and to stand away from the crowd, observing the actual gnosis.. or.. wisdom within the teachings of the prophets and taking the lonely often solitary path accelerating past the herds of sheep followers.. into enlightenment.

it's the most courageous and difficult accomplishment any man can perform.. in the face of masses of preaching backwards-thinking "believers"..

to actually perform the "Great work".. within.

that is man's greatest achievement.

-

Toss my vote to the Language column - both written and spoken. The ability to communicate ideas, and the means to preserve those ideas over time and distance.

The discovery and advancement of mathematics would be the second, the universal language of the universe.

The third great discovery hasn't happened yet, but the technologies are close at hand. The decoding of the human genome, and the advancement of computerization. The third greatest discovery of mankind will be the creation of Artificial Intelligence, artificial life, and our eventual merger with them.

[edit on 16-2-2009 by Lasheic]

reply to post by American Mad Man


1. astronomy (telescopes to space travel)

2. music

3. meditation (of all sorts)

4. math

5. transportation

So I have thought seriously about it and I now have my answer:

Anesthesia

yeah, nixie!!

Alcohol and drugs

To help us not care what "mans greatest achievement" or "greatest invention" or "heaviest metal band" or "funniest movie moment"
or any of the other best, most, greatest threads have to say.

[edit on 18-2-2009 by whaaa]

The Red Light District in Amsterdam.
After that....
Cold beer.

i would say its MMMMMMMEEEEEEE!!!!! greatest achievement by far

I would say (and I'm no ancestral biologist if there even is such an occupation) that Man became Man when he developed the ability to imagine and dream thus creating the infinite potential for further achievement and hey maybe even this blog. Liberalism might be a good definition for it, but interestingly enough it really did take long for us to communicate a proper label for it...

IgnoranceIsntBliss: perhaps you've had a similar idea

[edit on 20-2-2009 by Weston401]