Most Impressive Accomplishment

[MJ4H]

What is the most impressive accomplishment in human history? By that I mean, what thing has a person or a group of people done that just blows you away (more so than anything else) when you think of it?

I was thinking about this last night and wound up in a conversation about it. My thought was the Apollo Missions by NASA. Landing on the moon is such an incredible feat to me, I'm just blown away when I look at all that went into it.


What do you think is the most impressive, and why?

[miked]

The Big Dig :D :D :D

Seriously, I'd say either the Great Wall or the space flight.

[k0ruptr]

it was faked.

lol jk

I'm not sure the most impressive, but yea that has to be near the top of the list.

either that or Kobayashi's 53 1/2 hot dogs in 12 minutes :D

[Greyroofoo]

My first thoughts are the Pyramids or the Great Wall of China

[Raiders Army]

Inventions are rather easy to list as an impressive accomplishment in human history, like for instance the flushable toilet, the automobile, the lightbulb, computers, etc. The internet would be a biggie as well; however, I believe the most impressive accomplishment has been the creation of governments. A government has provided for its people, ruled its people, and also something that separates us from savages (although some may argue otherwise).

[Flasch186]

semi-control of fire?

[Buccaneer]

Indoor plumbing.

[Silver Owl]

Not sure if this qualifies as an accomplishment but I would say the controling of electricity.

[bbor]

Internet

[Dutch]

The key, I think, to determining the greatness of an accomplishment is not to look at it in hindsight, but to try to imagine what people thought before it was accomplished, before it was even debated, but was still just a pipe dream.

I'd say going to the moon, while not the most helpful achievement human's have come up with (indoor plumbing wins hands down), it has to be the most emotionally powerful achievement of all time. For most of human history, going to the moon would've been something only the gods could do.

[rexallllsc]

What is the most impressive accomplishment in human history? By that I mean, what thing has a person or a group of people done that just blows you away (more so than anything else) when you think of it?

I was thinking about this last night and wound up in a conversation about it. My thought was the Apollo Missions by NASA. Landing on the moon is such an incredible feat to me, I'm just blown away when I look at all that went into it.


What do you think is the most impressive, and why?

I'd probabl agree. This or the Manhattan project.

Someone did a video with a Band of Horses song with NASA footage: http://youtube.com/watch?v=dIQ3qmDQkdg

Awesome.

[DaddyTorgo]

religion. the selling of hope to billions of people over millenia.

but seriously...the pyramids. easily...for the time at which they were made and the technology that was available at the time, they were a MASSIVE undertaking

[VPI97]

Not sure if this qualifies as an accomplishment but I would say the controling of electricity.
I agree.

[Anthony]

i say the following three things were impressive accomplishments:

1. internet - ushered in the Age of Communication.
2. electricity - obvious reasons
3. currency - being able to make people do something for pieces of paper or coins so that they in turn can use those papers or coins to get someone else to do something for them was rather impressive. everything we do in life has the underlying intention of aquiring enough money so that we can buy or do something. everything. our natural state is to do nothing or wander the fields. in order to produce food and get people to build shelter we needed currency - some type of compensation - to monetarily motivate people to get off their asses.

[RedKingGold]

The birth of Hell Atlantic

[lighthousekeeper]

i thought it was this:

http://eur.i1.yimg.com/eur.yimg.com/xp/gamespot/thumb/pc/front-office-football-the-college-years/0/foftcy_screen002_thumb.jpg

[k0ruptr]

i thought it was this:

http://eur.i1.yimg.com/eur.yimg.com/xp/gamespot/thumb/pc/front-office-football-the-college-years/0/foftcy_screen002_thumb.jpg

AGREED.

[JPhillips]

The sundial and later the clock. Life gains meaning through time and the ability to measure time is critical to all our lives's.

[rowech]

While not the most impressive, I believe the most important to be the printing press.

[MJ4H]

This can go any direction you want it to, but a lot of these answers seem to be answering what was the most important innovation or something similar. I'm talking about something that was difficult, not important. So I don't think just inventing something like a sundial is what I'm talking about, but if people would rather talk about that sort of thing, I'm down.

[Anthony]

This can go any direction you want it to, but a lot of these answers seem to be answering what was the most important innovation or something similar. I'm talking about something that was difficult, not important. So I don't think just inventing something like a sundial is what I'm talking about, but if people would rather talk about that sort of thing, I'm down.

every "impressive" accomplishment in human history needs to have some form of importance. the two go hand in hand.

if you want to just talk about accomplishments in terms of how impressive they were (but excluding how important they were to human evolution/civilization) then you can just stop at the invention of the vibrator and call it a day.

[MJ4H]

I didn't claim it wouldn't have importance. I'm saying that the importance isn't what we are evaluating here. Clearly the invention of the printing press was important, but not all that difficult when compared to something like going to the moon. That's what I'm saying.

[Raiders Army]

I didn't claim it wouldn't have importance. I'm saying that the importance isn't what we are evaluating here. Clearly the invention of the printing press was important, but not all that difficult when compared to something like going to the moon. That's what I'm saying.

I believe I understand what you're trying to say but maybe not. I don't think that you can arbitrarily say that going to the moon was harder than the invention of the printing press. Going to the moon didn't deal with inventing something...it dealt with experimentation, science developments, and some guesswork. It's apples and oranges there.

Anyhow, I would put the invention of most things into the classification of "needs of humanity". IIRC, most inventions were created through a need of something. On the other hand, going to the moon was a desire of humanity.

[Buccaneer]

Apollo's mission to the moon wasn't that mind boggling nor did it end up being that important in hindight. Look what led up to that - several Apollo (plus Mercury) missions that went to the moon, put men in orbit - all to make sure that 11 could do it. If it happened in the 1950s, that would have mind boggling. To better answer your question, I guess you would have look throughout for something that was truly revolutionary or a startling inventor that instantly changed civilization(s). Most everything was built upon what came before so off-hand, I can't think of something that meets that criteria so instead, you would have to fall back on something that truly was important in terms of human lives.

[MJ4H]

Apollo's mission to the moon wasn't that mind boggling nor did it end up being that important in hindight. Look what led up to that - several Apollo (plus Mercury) missions that went to the moon, put men in orbit - all to make sure that 11 could do it.

Note that I said Apollo missions, not Apollo 11. Looking what came before it would mean Mercury and Gemini. Apollo's 1-10 were basically rehearsals and tests for 11, then 12-17 were the more exploration, discovery, experimenting things. I can't believe someone thinks they weren't mind boggling, though. Important, not as much you'd think such a thing would be, but still led to the development of a lot of technology. I am absolutely filled with awe when I think how much engineering, design, creativity, and hard work went into this project.

[ageofquarrel]

im going to say paper.

[Blade6119]

The pyramids, which in context of the time they were built simply blows everything else away to me. Technologically, they shouldnt have been able to build them..but they did...

Second, as a dark horse, id say greek fire was for what it could be used for at its time was remarkable. In a time when fire was the most dangerous weapon available, creating a kind that water would actually spread was ingenious. For how useful it was, thats my darkhorse pick.

[Buccaneer]

Note that I said Apollo missions, not Apollo 11. Looking what came before it would mean Mercury and Gemini. Apollo's 1-10 were basically rehearsals and tests for 11, then 12-17 were the more exploration, discovery, experimenting things. I can't believe someone thinks they weren't mind boggling, though. Important, not as much you'd think such a thing would be, but still led to the development of a lot of technology. I am absolutely filled with awe when I think how much engineering, design, creativity, and hard work went into this project.

I don't disagree at all. There's a new book coming out (I think, can't remember where I saw a preview) talking about how much of a waste NASA has been the past 40 years. There is no doubt that the build-up to actually going to the moon in one decade was a great acheivement, NASA actually did very little to build upon that, despite the massive amount of dollars spent.

[JPhillips]

Imagine inventing a way to keep track of time when no such device existed. I'd say dividing the day into segments that can be measured and communicated to others is damn difficult.

One mistake I think you're making is judging inventions by the technology of today. Why is a printing press less difficult than a rocket? We knew the basics behind rockets and ballistics years before Apollo. If you just want to look at new technology I think the Manhattan Project is more impressive.

[Buccaneer]

I thinking back on my favorite series of all time, Connections, I would have to go with the one invention that revolutionized human history - the plow. Without it, the pyramids would not have been built and the major ancient civilizations would not have flourished, let alone evolve into modern civilizations.

[Bad-example]

Imagine inventing a way to keep track of time when no such device existed. I'd say dividing the day into segments that can be measured and communicated to others is damn difficult.

So...your answer is the sundial?

[JPhillips]

Read page 1.

[Bad-example]

Read page 1.

Ah, didn't see your earlier post. My bad.

[AlexB]

The wheel was huge - basis for transport and distribution in it's original form, and then when incorporated into other designs, also power.

Plus if you've seen the Volvic ad, it gave us pole dancing :D

[TroyF]

A lot of great ones have been mentioned here. My first thought was the Pyramids, the Great Wall or the first space flight.

Push comes to shove I'll say the Pyramids just because I think they are cool. :)

[MJ4H]

The Apollo missions were *far* more than just "a rocket."

[Antmeister]

Coral Castle in Florida
One guy built an entire castle...by himself...without the use of any modern machinery. It is unexplianed how he was able to move all that heavy coral without even having the modern machinery that we have now, but somehow he was able to do this in 3 years.

Stonehenge, the Pyramids, the stones on Easter Island are also amazing accomplishments as well.

[BYU 14]

I have to go with harnessing electricity, imagine a World without that...

[Esquared1]

Bacon.

[Crim]

I'm gonna go with sliced bread. It is, after all, the standard by which virtually all greatness is measured from, even now.

[Crim]

And porn.

[firebirds]

Good answers from everybody, yet I looked at it from a different angle. Aside from the human intellect, the thing that just blows me away the most when I think of it is that very first loaf of baked bread and/or batch of beer. Both have been around for thousands of years. IMHO, these were a couple of the very first things that were concocted rather than hunted/gathered. Cultivation/farming happened first but to me that is more the management of a witnessed natural occurrance. It just amazes me to think of the thought process to come up with what became such a basic necessity for so many cultures.

[NoMyths]

Written language.

[Airhog]

The creation of Mathematics.

[fantastic flying froggies]

You can take just about any scientific improvement from the game Civilization, and they could all be argued to be most impressive accomplishments.

As a matter of fact, quite a few have been listed here already.

For my part, I'd say the airplane. Flying has always fascinated mankind, and that first flight by the Wright brothers must have been simply awesome.

[CU Tiger]

I have to go with firearms/gun powder.

1) you have to determine that by mixing certain things with fire you get a fast explosive reaction

2) You then have to harness this and point it.

3) If you fail to harness it correctly, well, you dont usually get a 2nd chance

4) Think of all the areas of life guns have changed. Food (hunting much more successful than with spear) War (again it gave a chance where it previously didnt exist) Protection, etc.

[SportsDino]

'Modern' economics (or whatever the term is for when society moved away from feudalism towards the earliest forms of capitalism for the individual). Simply because the power of the concept has driven invention, cooperation, competition, and politics for the last few centuries (arguably the best civilization has ever been on earth in terms of standard of living and personal freedom).

Its hard to track this as a single accomplishment, as you could say its been done for quite some time. But it is a relatively recent thing that it is widely assumed a person has the chance to make a living for themself on the basis of their hard work and talents (and some luck) instead of being indebted to life to a landlord of whatever title (king/dictator/church).

[AnalBumCover]

D-Day.

[QuikSand]

While many human accomplishments have had a greater direct impact, if the measure is "impressive" then I'd volunteer Einstein's development of his theory of relativity.

Many, many great scientific and practical advances were the result of experimentation and testing -- which certainly shouldn't be given short shrift. But by and large, Einstein's theories came from inside his own head, in a near absence of any experimental evidence (other than the puzzling result of some previous work, that had essentially been sitting around unsolved until he tied it together). He essentially puzzled out how he thought the world ought to work, and developed the entire theory based on that. Years later, as we started to catch up and develop suitably precise measurable experiments, we find that his theories predict pretty much everything we see on the scale that he analyzed.

To me, that is an extraordinarily impressive achievement. Its merits and effects might be debatable, but in terms of simple human accomplishment, nothing really strikes me the way that this does.

[MJ4H]

While many human accomplishments have had a greater direct impact, if the measure is "impressive" then I'd volunteer Einstein's development of his theory of relativity.

Many, many great scientific and practical advances were the result of experimentation and testing -- which certainly shouldn't be given short shrift. But by and large, Einstein's theories came from inside his own head, in a near absence of any experimental evidence (other than the puzzling result of some previous work, that had essentially been sitting around unsolved until he tied it together). He essentially puzzled out how he thought the world ought to work, and developed the entire theory based on that. Years later, as we started to catch up and develop suitably precise measurable experiments, we find that his theories predict pretty much everything we see on the scale that he analyzed.

To me, that is an extraordinarily impressive achievement. Its merits and effects might be debatable, but in terms of simple human accomplishment, nothing really strikes me the way that this does.

Very good. I like this one. I definitely overlooked this one when thinking of the most impressive one. The difference here is that it is one person. The Apollo missions were a huge team. It is hard to compare them for this and other reasons, but I agree this is at the very least way up there.

[st.cronin]

While many human accomplishments have had a greater direct impact, if the measure is "impressive" then I'd volunteer Einstein's development of his theory of relativity.

Many, many great scientific and practical advances were the result of experimentation and testing -- which certainly shouldn't be given short shrift. But by and large, Einstein's theories came from inside his own head, in a near absence of any experimental evidence (other than the puzzling result of some previous work, that had essentially been sitting around unsolved until he tied it together). He essentially puzzled out how he thought the world ought to work, and developed the entire theory based on that. Years later, as we started to catch up and develop suitably precise measurable experiments, we find that his theories predict pretty much everything we see on the scale that he analyzed.

To me, that is an extraordinarily impressive achievement. Its merits and effects might be debatable, but in terms of simple human accomplishment, nothing really strikes me the way that this does.


Roger Boscovich intuited quantum mechanics (the need for it, and a rough idea of how it would work) before Einstein was even born, and as far as I know never gets any credit for it.