What Innovations Are You Thankful For . .?

[Filip Larsen]

Maybe its already been mentioned, but there is an old saying in that particular business that sewage and wastewater engineering on average do more for general public health than the healthcare system. At least, I think that particular invention is a bit underappreciated by many.

 

[sysprog]

The pedal-chain-sprocket drive, connected to wheels, has made a human on a bicycle by far the most energy-efficient self-powered traveler among land animals.

 

[cybernetichero]

Maybe its already been mentioned, but there is an old saying in that particular business that sewage and wastewater engineering on average do more for general public health than the healthcare system. At least, I think that particular invention is a bit underappreciated by many.

I had a doctor say that to me once. If even a medico thinks it's so, against the promptings of professional pride then there must be at least a grain of truth.

 

[cybernetichero]

The pedal-chain-sprocket drive, connected to wheels, has made a human on a bicycle by far the most energy-efficient self-powered traveler among land animals.

What would psychotic computers have to sing about, otherwise?

 

[BWV]

Organic food, oh wait - no I mean artificial fertilizerhttps://ourworldindata.org/grapher/world-population-supported-by-synthetic-nitrogen-fertilizers

 

[BillTre]

I had a doctor say that to me once. If even a medico thinks it's so, against the promptings of professional pride then there must be at least a grain of truth.

This is not a good operating principle.

Any group of people will have a variety of opinions, brilliant to insipid, on any give subject.
There are also a variety of possible adverse motivations: fame, greed, professional advancement, personal dislike/competition, twisted sense of humor...
Doctors are no different. (Nor are physicists, biologists, chemists, or what ever.)
The are plenty of examples of doctors (or any other group) with poor ideas, for example Andrew Wakefield, whom made up a connection between vaccines and autism, which has had bad results.

Putting your faith in some idea should be based on more than the profession of one of the ideas supporters.
The idea should be able stand on its own, in the cold light of thoughtful analysis.

 

[cybernetichero]

This is not a good operating principle.

Any group of people will have a variety of opinions, brilliant to insipid, on any give subject.
There are also a variety of possible adverse motivations: fame, greed, professional advancement, personal dislike/competition, twisted sense of humor...
Doctors are no different. (Nor are physicists, biologists, chemists, or what ever.)
The are plenty of examples of doctors (or any other group) with poor ideas, for example Andrew Wakefield, whom made up a connection between vaccines and autism, which has had bad results.

Putting your faith in some idea should be based on more than the profession of one of the ideas supporters.
The idea should be able stand on its own, in the cold light of thoughtful analysis.

Well no. That shouldn't be taken to be any sort of appeal to authority. Too many doctors become (bad) MPs. On the other hand it's his job to educate his patients on a healthy lifestyle and it would be foolhardy to go to him and then dismiss what he says out of hand. Otherwise, why bother going to see him. It's a sort of middle ground.
As far as standing on it's own, it's plausible but neither history nor archaeology are exact sciences so our knowledge of the effects of sewers on health is anecdotal or circumstantial.

 

[cybernetichero]

The pedal-chain-sprocket drive, connected to wheels, has made a human on a bicycle by far the most energy-efficient self-powered traveler among land animals.

You want the visuals at 1.56

 

[cybernetichero]

neither history nor archaeology are exact sciences

See Rutherford's dictum.

 

[Keith_McClary]

artificial fertilizer

Modern agriculture is a system to convert fossil fuels into food.

 

[cybernetichero]

Modern agriculture is a system to convert fossil fuels into food.

Dune: Hydraulic despotism.

 

[cybernetichero]

We are using the greatest information retrieval system in the history of mankind to discuss which modern invention we are most grateful for. Just thought I would point that out.

I just had a mobile device related "lost time" episode and had a mental image of a Salvation Army band and the placards read, "Resist the Demon Browser".

 

[Keith_McClary]

House of Parliament sauce is not even made in England anymore

Mine says "product of USA".

 

[Digcoal]

I was just sitting back today thinking of how we live compared with people just 100-200 years ago (or, even people living today in less modernized parts of the world). I often complain of not having this or that and the nuisance of getting spam and fake emails. And, yet, something as simple as email (and a computer with word processing) is a truly remarkable luxury that people just 50 years ago did not have. Mail had to be sent by postal delivery. Word processing was done on cumbersome typewriters.

Air conditioning...indoor plumbing...refrigeration...hell, even electricity...are all quite amazing when compared to their absence just a few decades or hundred years ago.

I am thankful for the labor, creativity, and drive to innovate that so many people of the past had that have made my life so much better. . .Life is not perfect - yes, spam and fake emails annoy me - but I am so much more glad to have to deal with the troubles that innovations bring than to live life without them.

OMG, even Coca-Cola...Five Guys burgers...Lays potato chips...I am so thankful for these food innovations too! It would be torture to imagine not having access to my favorite foods ever again!

Communication is, by far, the greatest innovation ever. It is the basis for everything we know today. Without it, all other innovations are impossible. Without it, our perception of reality is not even possible. Gauge bosons communicate the fundamental forces and electrochemical reactions allow your neurons to communicate. The corpus callosum allows high bandwidth communications which results in hemispheric amalgamation to occur giving you a single consciousness. Langauge is the next step after the corpus callosum which allows two minds to begin the formation of a single "master mind." The internet is the most recent iteration in this innovation's evolution, and it is on the cusp of another great revolution as soon as mankind figures out how to organize it the same way our brains are organized.