Mankind’s Greatest Achievement
- Thread starter peregrinus
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Talk about mixed results, but one of the great achievements was to "keep" time, with sun dials, hour glasses, then clocks, watches, and now devices. This allows us to ration our time, work in groups, and navigate the sea, air, and space.
A great achievement was learning the causes, prevention, and treatment of infectious diseases and infections. In the 19th Century and for most of history before that, a significant fraction of people died in childhood from infectious diseases. People were resigned to having four or five or more children so that one or two would live to adulthood and to be parents themselves. The loss of children was a burden to most adults who had children. That sorrow was a part of most families' lives.
Nothing beats God's creation. Why bother talking about the futile attempts of mankind.
Well, now the philosophical Pandora's box is opening up... (edit: and I cannot help but observe that this occurrence puts a thread in imminent danger of being locked! ?)
Achievements and creations are two different things; the OP was asking about the former, not the latter. Mankind can't create anything; everything there is was already here. Mankind just takes what there is and augments it (and usually quite poorly, I must say). What I think @Morrison Jeremiah was driving at is that the creation was made and formed so that everything is in good working order, by default. Man has had a nasty habit of taking things that are in a sensible order and putting them in such a way that they oppose one another, rather than working together. Perhaps this dichotomy was what prompted his comment, and why I appreciated it so much.
@briarbuck Jessica Alba likewise is a creation, not an achievement. Unless she was created in a lab, which the science fiction-loving side of me doesn't rule out entirely. In which case, she is both!
Achievements and creations are two different things; the OP was asking about the former, not the latter. Mankind can't create anything; everything there is was already here. Mankind just takes what there is and augments it (and usually quite poorly, I must say). What I think @Morrison Jeremiah was driving at is that the creation was made and formed so that everything is in good working order, by default. Man has had a nasty habit of taking things that are in a sensible order and putting them in such a way that they oppose one another, rather than working together. Perhaps this dichotomy was what prompted his comment, and why I appreciated it so much.
@briarbuck Jessica Alba likewise is a creation, not an achievement. Unless she was created in a lab, which the science fiction-loving side of me doesn't rule out entirely. In which case, she is both!
Very true. Although cricket & the Arsenal come awfully close & warrant a mention.
I think the the goal of science is to “create” knowledge. In making a scientific “discovery ” through experimentation and the collection of empirical evidence we are creating knowledge. When a phenomenon is understood, explained and harnesses knowledge is created. It may be knowledge of something that always existed but the knowledge itself did not exist.Well, now the philosophical Pandora's box is opening up... (edit: and I cannot help but observe that this occurrence puts a thread in imminent danger of being locked! ?)
Achievements and creations are two different things; the OP was asking about the former, not the latter. Mankind can't create anything; everything there is was already here. Mankind just takes what there is and augments it (and usually quite poorly, I must say). What I think @Morrison Jeremiah was driving at is that the creation was made and formed so that everything is in good working order, by default. Man has had a nasty habit of taking things that are in a sensible order and putting them in such a way that they oppose one another, rather than working together. Perhaps this dichotomy was what prompted his comment, and why I appreciated it so much.
@briarbuck Jessica Alba likewise is a creation, not an achievement. Unless she was created in a lab, which the science fiction-loving side of me doesn't rule out entirely. In which case, she is both!
Your analysis of what I meant is pretty good Servant King. When I was a child at the peak of my intuitiveness, the important things to me were people, love, friendship, the world around me, and that indefinable ( something ). Man-made objects were of minor importance to me. The act of creation was some achievement I reckon.Well, now the philosophical Pandora's box is opening up... (edit: and I cannot help but observe that this occurrence puts a thread in imminent danger of being locked! ?)
Achievements and creations are two different things; the OP was asking about the former, not the latter. Mankind can't create anything; everything there is was already here. Mankind just takes what there is and augments it (and usually quite poorly, I must say). What I think @Morrison Jeremiah was driving at is that the creation was made and formed so that everything is in good working order, by default. Man has had a nasty habit of taking things that are in a sensible order and putting them in such a way that they oppose one another, rather than working together. Perhaps this dichotomy was what prompted his comment, and why I appreciated it so much.
@briarbuck Jessica Alba likewise is a creation, not an achievement. Unless she was created in a lab, which the science fiction-loving side of me doesn't rule out entirely. In which case, she is both!