From toilet paper to the simple spear — these are some of the best inventions that have blessed us with their usability. Sadly, they get overshadowed by the more famous creations of geniuses and other great people. There is no use in arguing with the truth that the best inventions of all time have been pushed to the side in favor of more famous ones. It's vitally important to understand their value and usefulness to us.
The best invention is one we ignore but still impacts our lives. Take farming, for example — one of the most important inventions ever. It helped create cities and laid the foundation for other great inventions too. If we were to compare the achievements of humanity, this might be the best invention ever. And yet, it’s overshadowed by vaccines, antibiotics, and other late-stage human creations.
Luckily for us, one person did raise the question of such inventions. User pdjmcvit asked on the popular AskReddit a question vital to humanity — “In your opinion, what was the best invention ever?” We compiled some of the best answers given and put them in the list below. Since there are so many of them, leave an upvote on the ones you think are most important. On the other hand, share some more inventions in the comments below.
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"Corrective lenses/glasses. I (and millions of others) would be so screwed without them."
Same I can’t see a foot in front of my face without mine :(
"Vaccines. Saved millions of lives."
PSA: Vaccines do NOT cause autism, track you, cause the zombie apocalypse, [insert conspiracy here]
entertheskraw wrote:
"The toilet... and we wanna get deeper than that, sewer systems."
Villhellm replied:
"I think people grossly underestimate the miracle of indoor plumbing. You sh*t in a ceramic bowl and your poop f*cking disappears. Then you wash your hands in water that appears as if from nowhere by turning a f*cking knob. I'd take having a toilet and sink in my house over plastics, wheels, or any of the other sh*t people are coming up with in this thread."
Sanitary sewer systems and clean water probably resulted in the largest increase in lifespan ever. Just think it was the lowly toilet.
"Refrigeration in general. Think of all the lives saved just by being able to keep our food cold."
My power recently went out for ~36 hours… really made me appreciate the power of modern heating, refrigerators, etc. We had to throw out half our stuff.
"Penicillin. It was the first antibiotic and it paved the way for all the cures that modern medicine offers."
And now we’re overusing it, and it may become obsolete in the next few decades
"The invention of the shovel was truly groundbreaking."
putterbum wrote:
"The printing press."
putterbum replied:
"The internet is just recently starting to be available to third world countries and to the impoverished, where books have no cost of operation other than the purchase, and is easily transferable in those areas. The internet is extremely important but the printing press sped up intellectual advancement like nothing else."
"As a Type 1 Diabetic, my vote goes for Artificial Insulin. Would literally be dead by now without it."
"Farming. No other possible idea can compete with the ability to have food through out the year. It lead to civilisation and to the rise of humanity as the most dominant creature ever. There has never been and probably never will be an invention that has changed the world as much as farming has."
Commenter No. 1 wrote:
"Generating electricity has served us pretty well."
Sumit316 replied:
"Generating Electricity and having a control over it is really one massive achievement of humanity. Opening doors for almost everything we have today."
jbsnicket added:
"Up to and including opening literal doors for us."
We all take it for granted until there is a power outage and then we go scrambling for the torches (and hope that the batteries aren't dead)
"Honestly, the camera has always blown my mind. It creates a lasting picture of something that happens in the real world, and even though it may not be the most advanced invention, it has always kinda amazed me."
"Washing your hands, the doctor who came up with this idea was laughed at by other doctors. He did so and proved that hand washing between patients would increase survival rates, and this was the basis for modern germ theory. The number of lives saved by this (at the time) laughable idea is uncountable."
"Writing is pretty amazing. Stored information, circulation of concepts."
Commenter No. 1 wrote:
"A satellite. Are they floating or flying or what? How did they get there?"
Apayan replied:
"They're constantly falling. Round in a circle. Enjoy your existential angst on their behalf."
DanielShaww wrote:
"The Internet."
chillyhellion replied:
"Humans have existed for thousands of years and this is the first time in our history that we are connected at a global level. Anything that we could possibly achieve as a collective species will be because of this breakthrough."
Pity that the noble ideas that the academics had about the internet originally have fallen by the wayside as it has become a cesspit for extremists (not the BP site of course)
"Google maps.
OK, so here's the deal. At any point on the planet I can know exactly where I am using my small handheld device.
But wait, there's more.
I can also find directions on how to get to ANYWHERE ELSE on the planet.
But wait, there's more.
It also tells me local traffic conditions, if where I'm headed might be closed, and the train routes/bus schedules that might be useful along the way.
But wait, there's more.
It knows when I'm moving, which direction I'm facing, and can even show me pictures of what that area looks like.
But wait, there's more.
It tells me interesting locations nearby such as museums, restaurants, shopping centers, parks...
But wait, there's more.
It's free to use.
A magical god d*mned map for ANYWHERE ON THE PLANET is free to use and can be accessed from anywhere as long as you have a mobile device.
We live in amazing times, folks. Amazing times."
I once got in a fight with an old man at a gas station at like 3 am. He was lost and refused to use gps as he insisted it was only for menopausal women and when these kids today discover paper maps they are going to be amazed
"That’s easy. Antiseptics. Like the whole sanitation thing. Joseph Lister, 1895. Before antiseptics, there was no sanitation, especially in medicine."
"Batteries. In conjunction with the internet, these two inventions have mobilized our world to the point we're at today. Batteries seem to be the main technology holding us back from exponential progression."
Back2Bach wrote:
"Laser technology - especially in surgical use."
Trivius replied:
"I was in assisting in urological surgery where someone was having laser lithotripsy. It's literally sticking a fibre optic camera with a laser attached into the kidney a blasting kidney stones into pieces."
"The invention of the saw was extremely cutting edge."
Birth control pills. Women get to choose when to have children and that enables women to have better opportunities for education and work that contributes to financial independence. Tampons, menstrual cups and other products that promote menstrual hygiene.
Amazing. Although some people are trying to get them banned in certain US states. Yay.
mustyrats wrote:
"Transistors. The building block of miniaturization."
techniforus replied:
"No other invention we've ever made has kept up such a rate of improvement for such a long period of time. Moore's law and its implications are just crazy."
"Music."
"Duct tape, it's so simple you wouldn't expect it to be as useful as it is.
Boots getting wet? Duct tape.
Want to make a spear? Duct tape.
Bleeding out? Duct tape.
Leak in your space station? You guessed it, Duct tape!
For such a simple invention its versatility is astonishing."
"Bit of a common theme going about here. "The printing press, Music, Language, The radio, The Internet..."
I'd like to point out Language here. We can observe that a basis of language is usually setup in society before much else. This applies to more than just humans as well! You can witness animals setup ways of communicating with each other for cooperative purposes.
I would like to say that the other answers are an extension of language. The radio extends my voice. Language translates my voice. The printing press writes my voice. The internet immortalizes my voice.
It's more than just those though, even other answers hinge on language being there. Medicine....without anyone being able to explain a single thing about his "magic pill," it could be anything, a placebo, harmful, perhaps even a drug.
Language and expression are truly powerful things. Used in ways unnoticed, more flexible than slinkys, and pushing more than Sisyphus."
"Mail service. You can get anything you want shipped to you in 2 days."
"All these things have one thing in common: Glass. It's an incredibly diverse material that we use in almost literally anything that's considered modern. Phones, computers, cars, communications, prosthetics, and the list goes on. We owe the modern age to it."
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fen%2F2%2F23%2FThroughglassstonesour.jpg&tbnid=XDYwp5Z1dfiOHM&vet=12ahUKEwi1yovYmP_9AhXEE94AHR80Bb8QMygAegUIARDLAQ..i&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FThrough_Glass&docid=V42gqiM8l2dCfM&w=300&h=300&q=through%20glass&safe=active&ved=2ahUKEwi1yovYmP_9AhXEE94AHR80Bb8QMygAegUIARDLAQ
"There was a showerthought recently which pointed out that Wikipedia might be the greatest invention of the human race, ever. We took all knowledge of important topics and created the world's most comprehensive encyclopedia, available to all the world. So cool!"
"CT scanners. A circle of x ray machines that spin around really f*cking fast with sensors on the opposite side. And from that you basically turn an array of numbers into a 3D picture of the human body.
Never realised how amazing it was until I built a fairly rudimentary CT scanner."
"I have one word for you, just one word: Plastics. Without plastics (as a technology), none of this would be there (atleast in the current form): Laptops, Phones, Cables, Large Large bottles of Mountain Dew, Condoms, Packs of Doritos, Takeaway food packaging, Flashlights, etc..."
Yet plastics are ruining the environment so idk how great of an invention that really is
"The dog. We took a deadly menace and made a helpful friend. Beat that."
"The telegraph: For the first time ever, communication is faster than stuff moving.
For clarification, it is also the ability to send messages (practically) as far as you want and at a high data rate. Semaphores were expensive and difficult to maintain, but are the best telegraph precursor. Speaking and throwing things had very short ranges, so they didn't fulfill any similar role."
CheekyMojito wrote:
"A computer chip - loads of on and off switches used in a specific way that can do almost anything you can think of nowadays."
skylark8503 replied:
"I 100% agree. I tried watching the crash course on computer science. By the middle of the first episode I was like “yup- it’s magic.“"
"Telescopes. It’s a tube of mirrors that can show you space and sh*t. That’s pretty rad."
ButaneLilly wrote:
"Internal combustion engines. Humans are so proud of these dirty noisy archaic machines. Isn't fire an aspect of the stone age?"
Schwachsinn replied:
"They are really something to be proud of though. They are a super genius invention. The idea of just spraying enough fuel into a cell to ignite, displacing enough air to create mechanical movement... the dude that invented them was a real f*cking genius."
"The wheel, it really got things rolling for the world."
"Airplanes... seriously, powered flight that helped lead to space travel, the future of mankind."
"TV. Sounds simple enough in practice but it's truly amazing when you think about the thought process that went into developing the concept."
"A Vinyl Record. Somehow, someway sounds is scratched onto a vinyl disc and is played back with a needle."
"Air Conditioning. Has lowered heat related mortality and has allowed people to comfortably live in the south."
"Clothing. I'm sure a lot of you will disagree, but when I walk outside later to clean the snow that will inevitably be covering my car, these clothes are gonna keep me warm."
"The thermos. You put something hot in it, it stays hot... You put something cold in it, it stays cold.
How does it know!?!?"
Scrappy_Larue wrote:
"The spear. Prior to that, did hunters have to tackle and strangle their prey?"
Braakman replied:
"No, before the spear we had the big, somewhat knife-shaped sharp rock."
WalkerFLRanger wrote:
"Curiosity, the Mars rover. It's a f*cking rover. on Mars. Exploring sh*t, taking photos and conducting research on a planet 35 million miles away. What a time to be alive."
Commenter No. 2 replied:
"The first time I saw the "selfie" pictures it takes I looked at them for a good 10 minutes trying to comprehend that a robot just took a picture of itself on mars. Absolutely incredible."
"Audio. Pretty amazing how relatively simple a speaker and a microphone is yet professionals can make sounds and music you never thought you would hear."
"Sliced Bread. It provided us with means of comparing the greatness of all future inventions."
clutchied wrote:
"Haber-Bosch process."
treeses replied:
"This. The Haber-Bosch process allows us to make enough food to feed the 7 billion people on the planet. It has quadrupled our ability to make food. Most of us wouldn't be alive today without this process."
YouTube “the man who killed millions and saved billions” by veratisium.
"The answer has to be video games. It combines three of the greatest aspects of humanity. Art, technology, and imagination all blended together and dependent on each other."
"Toaster. It allows you to cook bread, again."
"The modern skyscraper. People are so far up, yet safe. And the views are just insane on most."
I think the invention that most profoundly drove our species forward was the bag. I would argue that the bag even predated the wheel. It may not be so much of an invention, but rather an idea. The idea of a bag. I’m certain the first user of the “bag” wasn’t even human as we know it, likely millions of years ago. Someone skinned an animal, and wrapped up some things with it so they could carry it all. This was at one time a revolutionary idea, and all of a sudden hominids could carry more than two things at once! This new concept led to other inventions, like the jug, the cup, and the box. Without this new concept, our distant ancestors would have never been able to carry water, etc. and would have never been able to migrate away from their natural source of water/food.
Ladies... Come on.. Not one mention of sanitary napkins. Or diapers.
I think the invention that most profoundly drove our species forward was the bag. I would argue that the bag even predated the wheel. It may not be so much of an invention, but rather an idea. The idea of a bag. I’m certain the first user of the “bag” wasn’t even human as we know it, likely millions of years ago. Someone skinned an animal, and wrapped up some things with it so they could carry it all. This was at one time a revolutionary idea, and all of a sudden hominids could carry more than two things at once! This new concept led to other inventions, like the jug, the cup, and the box. Without this new concept, our distant ancestors would have never been able to carry water, etc. and would have never been able to migrate away from their natural source of water/food.
Ladies... Come on.. Not one mention of sanitary napkins. Or diapers.
