Inspired by the WI thread about the invention of gunpowder, I'd like to ask which inventions were "inevitable" and which ones could go a long time without being invented, merely being "accidental" rather than something that would come as a natural consequence of technological progression.
Which Technologies Were/Weren't "Inevitable"?
- Thread starter Tripledot
- Start date
jahenders
Banned
I would argue that the vast majority of utilitarian inventions are inevitable -- they will eventually occur as a step in technological progression. However, the timing is (of course) NOT inevitable. The life, death, or focus of a few geniuses can change the progress in a certain field, as can the degree of government/charitable support/opposition.
Other non-utilitarian inventions (pet rock, whoopee cushion, etc), are NOT as often inevitable. They may only have a relatively brief window where both technology and societal trends make them possible, or at least plausible.
Other non-utilitarian inventions (pet rock, whoopee cushion, etc), are NOT as often inevitable. They may only have a relatively brief window where both technology and societal trends make them possible, or at least plausible.
The wheel
The axle
The plow
Form follows function. Science is our understanding of nature, and is the framework through which technology is developed. Given the same nature, yes, science is predictable.
Technology may not follow the same path as we stumble through our understanding of nature, but you're still going to eventually create the same staple products: the wheel is still going to be recognizably a wheel, the axle is still going to be an axle, and the plow is still going to be a plow. If they don't already exist in a civilization, just keep waiting.
Driftless
Donor
The inventions/tools you list where not practically used in Pre-Columbian times in the Americas - at least in any large scale usage. Perhaps the lack of of a practical domesticated draft animal had an impact there.
I remember reading somewhere that ancient Mesoamericans understood the ideas of wheels and axels. However, the wheel became a sacred shape in their cosmology (I.e. time itself was represented by a small wheel rolling along a larger wheel). The cosmic wheel became sacred enough that the idea of rolling amy wheel through the dirt was blasphemous, and that was the reason they didn't use wheels before the conquistadors took over.
Does anyone else remember reading something like that, or is my memory playing tricks on me?
Play-doh was an accident so it wasn't inevitable.
Comic books could arguably be something that wasn't inevitable since they started with a new york newspaper vendor folding the funny pages of newspapers in to a bookish shape and putting a 25 cent sticker on it in the 30s that others copied. Then the mafia copied that shape to sell porn so it would be easier to hide and then at some point indie comics showed up copying what the mafia did.
The selfie stick is the last thing thay comes to mind
Comic books could arguably be something that wasn't inevitable since they started with a new york newspaper vendor folding the funny pages of newspapers in to a bookish shape and putting a 25 cent sticker on it in the 30s that others copied. Then the mafia copied that shape to sell porn so it would be easier to hide and then at some point indie comics showed up copying what the mafia did.
The selfie stick is the last thing thay comes to mind
I think that your memory is playing tricks on you. IIRC they found some pull toys in some tombs in South America which had wheels on them. The problem was that aside from the llamas they didn't have any domesticated animals that were large enough to make them practical for larger use.
Even so without draft animals the wheel would still have been useful to some if not many native societies. Haven't you ever heard of wheel barrows and hand carts. Of course a lot depends on the local terrain. Wet swampy ground like the Olmecs had. Not so great. Ditto for the Andean societies. Of course the wheel is more than just moving objects over the ground. Mill Wheels/Pulleys etc. Did any native cultures use potters wheels? Primitive lathes?