If you could undo one Invention, what would it be and why?

Flying machines.

The technology to use Oil as drilled from the Earth.

Had We not found this? We would be in a whole different playing field.
The lack of this major step in mans evolution may have negated Wars and A-Bombs.

There would be no conflicts in the middle east over oil today.
There would have been no conflicts in the 30's about oil.
There many have been actual improvements in other energy sources
long ago.

But hindsight is always 20/20

The concept of god.

[TLAM Strike]

Originally Posted by privateer

The technology to use Oil as drilled from the Earth.

Had We not found this? We would be in a whole different playing field.
The lack of this major step in mans evolution may have negated Wars and A-Bombs.

There would be no conflicts in the middle east over oil today.
There would have been no conflicts in the 30's about oil.
There many have been actual improvements in other energy sources
long ago.

But hindsight is always 20/20

Because there were no weapons designed to be powered by burning coal...


Although if we had discovered fission earlier (Uranium was discovered all the way back in 1789, 150 years before fission was discovered!) we might have skipped oil and went strait from coal to nuclear power.

[Gargamel]

Originally Posted by TLAM Strike

Because there were no weapons designed to be powered by burning coal...
.

see: Anything steampunk.

Given the fact that Man is a predator?
We will hunt ourselves into extinction.
No matter the cause or means, it will just be that way.
In the space of time, we are a nothing more then a glimmer of thought.
We, as a Human Race, will not match the Dinosaurs time on Earth.
We are the deadliest thing to infest this planet!

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by Snestorm

Flying machines.

Which would lead to a longer route for me

[Armistead]

Originally Posted by privateer

The technology to use Oil as drilled from the Earth.

Had We not found this? We would be in a whole different playing field.
The lack of this major step in mans evolution may have negated Wars and A-Bombs.

There would be no conflicts in the middle east over oil today.
There would have been no conflicts in the 30's about oil.
There many have been actual improvements in other energy sources
long ago.

But hindsight is always 20/20

Then thousands of men would be marching side by side shooting or throwing spears at each other. Man conquered his fellow man killing just as many as we do today long before guns and oil. Just shows people kill, not weapons.
Don't forget the crusades and the many large battles in the mideast came long before oil was found.

[Growler]

Originally Posted by Armistead

Don't forget the crusades and the many large battles in the mideast came long before oil was found.

Humanity's been killing for oil ever since whales and lanterns.

[Castout]

Originally Posted by privateer

Given the fact that Man is a predator?
We will hunt ourselves into extinction.
No matter the cause or means, it will just be that way.
In the space of time, we are a nothing more then a glimmer of thought.
We, as a Human Race, will not match the Dinosaurs time on Earth.
We are the deadliest thing to infest this planet!

I disagree. mankind destiny lies in their own hands whether they want to keep regressing or evolving.

In the end the future of mankind and the planet is at stake.
When regressed people hold the majority of power for whatever reason the community and society are responsible for this condition even by merely doing nothing. In the end people in lower strata will copy and internalize many values and ideology of their leaders. And if many leaders are corrupt it will ripple down to the society as a whole and the whole nation in the end. And when that happens the corrupt condition will BRING DOWN every civility and eventually the civilization with it. The world will see many more wars and suffering and all this because the good people are being ignorant and shamed to inaction to evil around them.

No this is not a theory this is very real. We'll see! Imo the population of the world has been regressing in general and the world is descending towards regression. I mean in mind and morale and ideology. Well when a kind proves undeserving of civilization it will be taken away from them. We are in the end are responsible with what kind of people we decide to become, with the decisions we chose, with the evil we committed and their consequences, with the sins we made to repay them even in this life by us or our children.

It's just nature in play nothing more nothing less.

[MothBalls]

Gunpowder

[Hottentot]

Originally Posted by privateer

Given the fact that Man is a predator?

Actually, the term "hunter-gatherer" (which we supposedly originally were and have been for the majority of our kind's lifespan) is a little misleading. The way I've understood it, "scavenger-gatherer" would be more precise. Here is a Wikipedia link for now, but I'll see if I can find a better source somewhere. But of course "scavenger" doesn't sound nearly as sexy as "hunter". And it also depends on the definition, because later on we also started hunting. Though as far as I know, gathering was still the major source of food.

As for the thread's topic, I don't know. It's difficult enough for me to understand the past as it has happened now (or the small part of it that we call "history" at least), so my mind boggles trying to remove something from it. Does it count as invention when some idiots in different time periods decided to destroy valuable sources because they didn't like what the sources said or needed to write something else on the top of them or needed to wipe their backsides or whatever?

Some ideologies might be worthy candidates, but they are not strictly inventions either.

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by privateer

The technology to use Oil as drilled from the Earth.

I was thinking along these lines, but more specifically, Fossil fuels. Just about everything is powered by oil in some way shape or form. The world would be very different, and nowhere NEAR as crowded as it is now, if using fossil fuels never came about.

[papa_smurf]

The Internal combustion engine.

Sure it has lead to means of transport that has sped up our life's, but now it responsible for causing mass pollution and spending a major portion of our adult lives stuck in traffic jams.

[the_tyrant]

Silicon in women

example: