sperm and ova

fig newtons

no, wait...scotch.

Make that a single malt

Aaman and Mark

Are you guys done yet? Or do you want to make out some more?

How about a little intelligent dialogue, Aaman your first!

fire

gees, when i turned forty i didn't turn into a humorless snot.

Seriously, Richard, man is no better off because of the Internet or the telephone, not when billions have no access to either. Think closer to ground realities - the biggest contribution man has made to mankind is the ability to adapt to changing circumstances, and the survival instinct - both of which exist in animals to a large extent - we are no different really from the great apes, except that we got lucky.

Of course, as Douglas Adams put it, more and more people are thinking it was a bad idea to come down from the trees in the first place, and more that it was an even worse idea to leave the oceans.

Aaman,

I may not agree but I thank you for contributing something serious.

i can't believe i'm saying this (being the anti-technogy grouch that i am) but an argument can be made for the microprocessor, given its omnipresense in so many areas of technology.

Thanks Mark? Honestly though, I am not familiar with it, can you briefly explain some key points?

it's just that microprocessors are embedded in so many devices spread across so many areas:

medical (from the low-end digital thermometer right up to cutting edge, operating room monitoring equipment)

household (processors in microwave ovens, stoves , etc.)

entertainment (from televisions to the iPod)

Well, I can see because of their flexibility and uses in so many items that they are extremely important. Good job!

While I agree that technology is not accessible to all, I think a more fundamental selection would be 'simple machines' like the pulley, lever, screws, zippers, and gears. These things were the stepping stones for tons of the technology that we are so proud of.

If that doesn't work, my vote is for beer. Or the sound Bugs Bunny makes when he sees a hot female rabbit. :)

Mark

The beer always should go at the top of any list. However, it could be anything, the invention of movies, radio, TV, antibiotics, sewage systems.

We as humans may not be the fastest, strongest or biggest animals in the jungle, but we were given a brain and logic and a creative desire to achieve anything possible to make our lives better.

What comes next, after humans?

Dolphins! And then, of course, the mice.

I dont see any reason why we should be patting our backs when we humans still behave in manner worse than animals.

Advancement in science and technology has not corresponded to mental and spiritual maturity, thereby making the world a far more dangerous place to live in where by just a push of a button we can nuke so many.

I dont see any reason why we have to be proud of our supposed advancement which more or less cater only to the developed nations and minorities in the developing countries.

swingingpuss or should I say 'sourpuss', don't be so hard on yourself or the human race! Technological advancement has a trickle down effect for everyone.

And by the way, intelligent comments are welcome!

That trickledown effect you talk about has had much benefit in Africa - RIchard - your post is well reasoned - but the examples cited for the most part are Western and more for developed nations in outlook - a post on man's benefits to humanity needs to expand it's horizons.

Great DVD box set, BTW - I'm very tempted

Richard, you obviously forgot the trigger effect the bomb had on Japan. Or that the oil you pump into your SUV or the diamonds that your wife wears are based on someone's tears, sweat and even death.

Go back to your fairy style lifestyle and believe that your toys would make a better place.

You are entitled to your myopic view of the world and but please dont indulge in name calling when you cant rebuttle with logic.

And I rather be a sour- puss than a bubble headed porter

I vote for concrete and steel. Plus hot water heaters.

ouch:)

i can't believe i'm saying this (being the anti-technogy grouch that i am) but an argument can be made for the microprocessor, given its omnipresense in so many areas of technology.

Not to be nitpicky, but my father-in-law, an elder geek, would probably say that the transistor is more important because it eventually led to the microprocessor.

And that's literally all I know on that subject.

As for extremely valuable human inventions, I'd tip my hat to Gutenberg. I have no idea what the most important human contribution is, though.

But maybe the answer can be found on the tittie thread.

Man's greatest gift to mankind was not any sort of tangible item, but rather the intangible idea that people should be free and equal, regardless of the station of their birth.

Technology is a double-edged sword because it had a lot to do with the all of those evils that have been inflicted by humans upon the Earth, nature and each other as well as all of the good things you listed.

That is the duality of man who is at once a creator and a destroyer, a freedom fighter and an oppresor and just as good as he is evil.

So Margaret, the gift is more a framework of ideas rather than a tangible object?

I like that a lot.

That's more the direction of what I wanted to say, but realized that the title of the post was "man to mankind."

The "man to mankind" title is a bit misleading because the writer starts out with a list of human actions -- war, the Terri Schiavo case, 9/11, slavery, crime, etc. -- as a demonstration of the evils of man and then lists tangible inventions like the polio vaccine and communications technologies as examples of man's goodness.

Besides, many inventions would not exist at all if it weren't for the ideas from which they were born.

Human freedom and the preservation of it is one of the central ideas behind the many advancements in communications and information technology of the past two centuries.

Our Founding Fathers knew that tyranny cannot take hold of any place where the flow of information is not restricted and they enshrined the free flow of information into the very first of the Bill of Rights.

Now those men never saw -- or probably even imagined -- modern communications technology, but their ideas of free speech, press and assembly certainly did inspire it.

Man's greatest gift to mankind? Art. Whether it is music or visual art or performance. Despite recording industry assertoions otherwise, art is the most beautiful, free gift someone can give to their species.

Tom, I agree with you- art and culture are two essential elements that bind humans together, and can be used to bridge the chasms that divide the world.

Symbols...

words..both printed and written, poetry and song...

music...

mathematics

all are Symbols...

they are the archetype of abstract thought and memory...IMO they are responsible for what makes us more than animals...

they give Form to the intangible, and define the Real...

nuff said?

Excelsior!

Commerce - a structure in which strangers can nonviolently exchange things like... beer

Mark

Richard Porter tries to construct a lucid sentence in the throes of his deep philosophical ponderings: "...And really it is quite telling to a certain extent while many groups (not just liberals!) will certainly proclaim it as gospel.


Hey, can't let Mr. I'm Positive and Opptimistic miss a chance to fuck with the dreaded "liberals", though, can we?


Anyhoo -- back to TODAY'S grad-student takes out his brain and plays with it in public question:

Richard Porter: "What do you consider to be man's greatest gift to mankind?"


Well....

First, let me just say that your gigantic creative and original intellect doesn't exactly beg to be in the running for the top ten.

But here goes:

MAN'S GREATEST GIFT TO MANKIND:

10) public polls
9) nuclear weapons
8) Pop-top aluminum cans
7) Tequila
6) New Coke
5) Filibusters
4) Band-Aids
3) Tofu
2) Air conditioning

and the #1 MAN'S GREATEST GIFT TO MAN:


1) *liberal assassins





* we haven't had any, but don't worry; it's a numbers game




** Extra Points: name one really good political assassin in America who was a liberal. Ain't easy, is it? Nope, the Right sorta has a lock on that category. Ask Mr. Porter "why?".

BTW:

Porter: "I agree that Man has done its share of evils to the earth..."

Good call on the "MAN" bit; if one hears about:

war
9/11
Madrid bombings
holocaust
slavery
child abuse
murder
and
rape

one might not know the exact identities of the perpetrators, but IS THERE EVER ANY QUESTION AS TO THEIR SEX?



PS: Men, kill yourselves for the good of the planet.

Margaret says: "Human freedom and the preservation of it is one of the central ideas behind the many advancements in communications and information technology of the past two centuries."

That's a lovely thought, but I would claim that what drives communications technology is (1) military applications (spying, reconnaissance, jamming, etc.) and (2) making lots of money (databasing, projecting, charting, spreadsheeting, etc.). And I'm just fine with that.

As Shark points out, one of the most beneficial bits of technology to ever spring from the minds of MEN is air conditioning (Willis H. Carrier, evidently, was the inventor, an MIT engineer) -- no joke. And Allie Fox might have been a lunatic, but he was right about refrigeration.

The swingingsourpuss says, "I dont see any reason why we should be patting our backs when we humans still behave in manner worse than animals."

I have never let my behavior descend to the level of a tapeworm, just to take a counter-example. Although I have probably been ruder to some person in my past than, say, a dolphin might have been.

(1) harnessing fire (comment #6)
(2) agriculture
(3) writing (see, also, comment #26)
(4) experimental science, as opposed to, say, Aristotelian science
(5) medicine
(6) the barter system
(7) metallurgy (comment #24)
(8) harnessing electricity
(9) music (comments #30, #32)
(10) the Fender Stratocaster
(11) Coke on ice
(12) eyeglasses
(13) plumbing
(14) Italian cooking
(15) soap
(16) carpentry
(17) paper
(18) an awareness of self-awareness
(19) concern for other animal species
(20) steak

GLad to see that everyone is enjoying this post and to clear up one important point, these gifts do not have to be tangible objects though I did list them. They can be anything as Margaret brought up and which was a very good example: freedom.

And to Shark: thanks for contributing but stop with the "teen angst" bit, it gets older by the minute.

And swingingsourpuss: there is not enough paper to write all the good and bad things man has done to each other or the planet. So stop with attempted guilt trip. My wife loves her diamonds thank you and I sleep soundly each night.

re:"My wife loves her diamonds thank you and I sleep soundly each night."

Greatest gift? How about - the ability to go on in the face of cognitive dissonance without necessarily going crazy.

Mark

Glad to see someone has been catching up with their Leon Festinger reading.

Mr. Opptimist: "...My wife loves her diamonds thank you and I sleep soundly each night."

I'll bet you sleep better than the people killed and butchered in West Africa so your domesticated primate of a wife can sport sparkly rocks at the local "Right To Life" meeting.

Guess Mr. Conservative Opptimist doesn't mind that his purchase might be 'supporting terrorists'?

Your diamond purchases in action.

Sleep tight, American Pig.

xxoo
S

And finally Shark's true self is revealed! I hope everyone on this site catches this one.

I'm sure I'll catch you burning American flags on the 6 o'clock news.

Aaman

On a more serious note, the box set for POTA is awesome, I own it and love watching it.

Hey Porter, at least once a week, I not only burn an American flag; I use it to light a joint.



"I love my country too much to be a nationalist." -- Camus

You know Shark, can you ever participate in a post without ranting angrily on and on...

and on and on...

and on and...


get the message?

Shark - lighters work much better for that, you don't have to worry about burning your eyebrows or anything like that!

Thanks for the great tip Andy...now do you have anything positive and worthwhile to comment on?

I found Andy's tip to be quite positive and worthwhile.

BHW, maybe you and your two friends Andy and Shark can go find some kittens to drown too!

Let me guess, are you all wearing the same sneakers and sipping out of a giant bowl of Kool Aid?

I'm moving to Wisconsin so I can go cat hunting! Drowning kittens, that's just mean man!

Andy, havent ya heard of roof meat? might be a bit chewy but one kind of gets used to it.

Richard Porter (Richie brainless Rich?), you are mean little man who cant handle dissension of any kind further proving my point that mere advancement of technology does not make men rational and logical just a selfish primate every ready for a clash either via the keys of a p.c. or a gun.

Further more, by not caring about the ills of the world and living in your Barbie-Ken fantasy, you have shown yourself to be a gluttonous ape merely interested in self-advancement at the cost of others.

And you my friend are a poor example of an American. Dont go waving a flag that actually protects my right to disagree with you.

re:"BHW, maybe you and your two friends Andy and Shark can go find some kittens to drown too!"

Good grief, I'm wrong again! You HAVE gone mad.

Mark

bhw, I think the best gifts mankind has given us, womenkind are spandex and tampons;-)

You know swingingsourpuss, its people like you who comment with quick sniping hateful comments rather than take part in any type of rational discussion. Brainless? Hardly, unless it is brainless to continually respond to your biting comments. How about a post of your own? Share your intelligence with the rest of us!

Sweety, I already have posted on this site numerous times. Check them out.... and hey you were the one who started the name calling not me and my point was simple technology does not solve the ills of the heart. Thats all.

Through all of your insults, that was your point? Well thanks for commenting on this post but my points were just a few examples where technology has helped mankind. There are endless tangible and non-tangible items that anyone could list.

And btw, are we cool now?

Then Richard you should have stated that your post was limited in its scope and you should be ready to be hauled up for it and not get your feathers ruffled so easily.

Non-tangible items like conscience, ethics,morals, values and conscience are the greatest gifts that men like christ, buddha, Aristotle, Plato etc bestowed upon men.

Materialism merely makes our lives easy but humanism makes us better than animals.

sourpuss

did you see comment 37?

GLad to see that everyone is enjoying this post and to clear up one important point, these gifts do not have to be tangible objects though I did list them. They can be anything as Margaret brought up and which was a very good example: freedom.


This may have saved both of us a headache. And leave my feathers alone.

bhw, I think the best gifts mankind has given us, womenkind are spandex and tampons;-)

Can't say I disagree!

But I would also add the Jiffy Steamer to that list.

Richie potty head, back to name calling are we? I saw the comment too but your were too busy to biting off people's head to acknowledge that her point was related to the one I was making.

Beleive me you buzzard feathers are the last I even look ath.

Oh and by the way I will let you have the last word as thats what childish bullies like you are good at.

I want the last word. Waaaaaaaaaaaha ha ha ha hhaaaaaaaaaaa.

LOL.

Everybody here needs to backtrack and not respond if it's going to make you look foolish.


Never argue with fools - the audience sometimes can't tell the difference.

Temple, again you are right:
"Everybody here needs to backtrack and not respond if it's going to make you look foolish.


Never argue with fools - the audience sometimes can't tell the difference."

moi foolish? Temple now I'm really hurt ;-)

A fool is the best gift from man to mankind

fire

Fire bad!

But seriously:

The ability to tell stories and create.

Richard, it is very bad form to criticize people commenting on your thread if you disagree with them. And calling them names is childish, even if it is a pseudonym

thought provoking post. and my answer to the title question, and indeed THE answer, is as follows;

Kirsten Dunst
Country music
cinema

In that order.

How is freedom a gift? That thouht makes me sad.

It was the idea of freedom that was a great gift to mankind, not the freedom itself.

I would, sadly, argue the opposite. We are inherently free, but mankind's constructs of government and society have made us less so.

Aaron,

One of three isn't to bad, at least you got the cinema part right.

If you wish to go in that direction:

Anna Kournikova
Anything '80's
and yes, cinema