The World's Best and Worst Ideas and Inventions - Ever

news.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

I reckon ATS can improve on 'the wheel' as the best idea and even Leonardo Da Vinci as the person with the best ever ideas.

As for the worst ideas and inventions - I think we can have a ball...



news.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

the most important invention of all time(next to the wheel)
is the toilet.
And also toilet paper.

Reality TV voted worst idea....

Yet...... People are still watching it like its some kinda crack.......

ANYWAY!!!!!

Next on Big Brother, American Idol, and whatever tf else they got.... We have people watching the idiots on these reality shows.. who yet think is the worst idea ever but yet.. still watch us..

Define Irony???? Read above.

Nice thread...

its funny you should bring up Da Vinci, as I was just visiting the Otago Museum in Dunedin, a couple of days ago. they had a big exhibition on Leonardo and his inventions...

he really was the master!

As for worst ideas and inventions, yeah reality TV is right up there...

dont forget...
Polychlorinated biphenyl's.. (PCB's)
Religion...
Aspartame...
Nuclear fusion/fission...
more than half the crap from GlaxoSmithKline and others...

that will do for now but ill be back...

reply to post by josephine

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You're not kidding. I've been to parts of the world where those things are hard to find, and it's an affront to civilization, not to mention the olfactory system.

Mind you newspaper scraps can lessen the tedium...



reply to post by ThichHeaded

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I can never figure out how many people watch because they're enthralled and how many just get a kick out of the cringe factor.



reply to post by Zeus187

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Thanks for ramping up the intellectual stakes. At the same time I reckon there is huge potential even in tongue-in-cheek contributions for us to analyse the human condition.

And by the way, I hope you have a darned good legal team.



For what it's worth, here are my musings:

Worst Invention: landmines / MacDonalds

Worst Idea: oppression / advertising

Worst Inventor: Hitler

Most Damaging Discovery: alcohol / drugs

Best Invention: the printing press / fingerprinting

Best Idea: Reconciliation

Greatest Inventor: Nikola Tesla Click here to find out more

Most Useful Discovery: alcohol / drugs


Also, the final category in the article:

The Best Way to Preserve Ideas: prudent exploitation of alcohol / drugs

Plus one for good measure:

The Best Way to Make a Quick Buck while Damaging other People: imprudent exploitation of alcohol / drugs





[edit to spell Tesla's name the Serbian way]


[edit on 22/5/08 by pause4thought]

Best invention: The Plough
Fundamentally, changed the human from a being built for survival into a being built for questioning.

Best invention runner-up: Solar Distillation
What can be better or more valuable than clean, safe and drinkable water the way mother nature intended it?

Worst invention: The State
In all its forms, the state is the cause of more suffer and indignity than the sum of all other inventions in human history.

Worst invention runner-up: Fractional Reserve Banking
A system that lets the bankers control the actual value of your labor. If they think you are getting paid too much all they have to do is give out lots of loans and inflate the currency. Bingo, you are being paid less.

Jon

I'm not sure it's the absolute worst idea of all time, but it is definitely up there on the list....

I present to you, The Body-Laptop-Interface.





I've never laughed so hard in a looong time as when I first came across that pic.

I would reckon that soap was a pretty major invention...as it allowed safe surgery to be practised and helped stamp out the spread of disease.

As a robotics tech, I'd have to say Nikolai Tesla's invention of AC electricity had to be the most important of our time.

That, and his advancement of motors.

and, The fluorescent light bulb.

and Radio waves.


Then again... one could argue the invention of thin copper wire was really what mattered, as without it we wouldn't have any of todays electrical equipment. Imagine trying to use steel... I shudder at the thought.


... but from that, you could argue that the copper mine is the most important invention...

... from that you could argue that the pick is the most important... couldn't start mining back then without a pick.

... or smelters.


Oh nevermind. There's too much leading up to that.
Forget it... we should have never come down from the trees.

reply to post by johnsky

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A man after my own heart. Frankly many of the world's best inventions and ideas were Tesla's! So much so I thought on reflection I'd start a thread: www.abovetopsecret.com... Come on over and tell us what you know!

The other contributions have provided plenty of food for thought (-and controversy!)



reply to post by SystemiK

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Any plans for mass-production? It's the simplest ideas that catch on (unless you're Tesla). Someone'd better get down to the patent office...

Wont be popular but I think worst idea and worst invention goes to organized religion to many atrocities commited in the name of (insert higher being here).

I have to vote for an honorable mention here: the Pet Rock.

Think about it, you pick up a rock, put it in a box, and everyone rushes to your doorstep to pay large amounts of money for it.

I just wish I had thought of it...

TheRedneck

Well to be honest how about the steam engine. When you think about it all electricity is still generated by heating up water to turn to steam in an effort to spin a turbing. Even nuclear powerstations are modified steam engines, just slightly fancier and with a few more blinking lights. Copper mine's / wire, Robotics and even pet rocks will struggle to work or have a use (ok maybe not the pet rocks) without a steam turbing spinning spinning somewhere.

Certain extreme sports might also arguably be in contention for the title of the world's worst idea. You've heard of bungee-jumping and base-jumping - well how about... trainsurfing? (I kid you not.)

Check this out for the full low-down:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

When it come to science, how about cryogenics for the ultimate prize in bad-idea rip-off snake-oil degeneracy? Or should I say decomposition?..

Carpet. Hands down. Most of you might not think so but being the sole woman in a house of three males (including a four year old) and pets, I would really like to beat the person who invented carpet. You have to shampoo it constantly to keep it looking nice and not even beating family and guests over the head with a frying pan will get them to remember to take their shoes off.

Cute thread, P4T.

[edit on 5/23/2008 by AshleyD]

Worst inventor would have to be Thomas Midgely.

He thought it would be a great idea to put lead in petrol - duh.

Then he thought it would be rather good to use freons in refrigeration - double duh.

Between the Lead and the CFC's has done much more damage to the atmosphere than any other person by far.

Then at the age of 51 he contracted polio, so he invented a device to get him in and out of bed. - he subsequently got tangled up in it and suffocated... Oh dear, drowning at birth might of been more prudent

For an all time best idea i'd go with an invention from da Vinci indeed but as for a recent best one, i'd go with the one of my compatriot Rolland Moreno whom invented the micro chip card (1974). A great idea in principle but the dark side under the traits of the C.I.A came by and bought back its company via a somewhat sketchy tactic and guess what, now they all know about you: telecommunications, public telephony, finance, retail, transport, entertainment, healthcare, personal identification, information technology .... whatever.Big Brother is not a myth.

anti-biotics would have to be the best i think..the worst is easily anything made by Macdonald's..... lol...

best invention: Sliced Bread! I mean if your gonna take the phrase "next best thing to sliced bread" guess what classifies as the best invention?

Second best: Beer, The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.

Worst invention: The bra's locking device, cmon fellas can you agree with me on this one?

Second worst invention: The telephone. Man I wanna beat Thomas Edison back to life and then kill him for this idea.