It's hard to imagine that one invention could change the course of world history forever, but if you stop to think about it—there have been quite a few!
Imagine, for example, if we had never figured out large ships?
What would the world look like with only kayaks, rafts, and other smaller crafts?
What wouldn't it look like?
Reddit user NoBand2201 asked:
"You can eliminate one invention from history to change the world forever. What do you eliminate?"
Reddit users had plenty to say about the subject—starting with the most clear and present danger in our times; social media.
A Soapbox
"Facebook has given the village idiot a soapbox and megaphone."
- I_likem_asstastic
"Facebook and the company itself is the worst offender, but social media in general was advancing to its current state way before Facebook."
- aztechfilm
"The village idiots migrated from AOL town square chat rooms to Facebook and Twitter."
- MysteriousBrays
"Could even still be MySpace? Can you imagine the level of background animations, glitter gifs and music a 15 year old profile would have?"
"Also, people are inherently stupid, they would find a way to ingest nonsense."
- Tiemujin
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The Trolley Problem Is Horrific In Real Life
"I would be interested in seeing how the world would’ve turned out without the atomic bomb."
- tomi210210
"The Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings were basically a real life application of the trolley problem."
- shiny_xnaut
"Agreed. Regrettably so."
"In the near term, it would have been disastrous for Japan."
"From "What If? Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Have Been" The US and allies already had plans to shift their strategic bombing campaign over to Japan's rail network and other transportation networks in Sept or Oct. Japanese civilians were already on reduced daily caloric intake."
"With US B-29s, along with other US and British bombers operating off Okinawa (and US and British Naval aircraft) hitting all the transportation network, etc... we would have seen nation wide famine throughout Japan."
"Millions would have died brutal and agonizing deaths."
"Then calculate for all the tens of thousands dying on a daily basis throughout the Asian/Pacific theater of operations."
"Then very likely another major war in Europe between the USSR/Warsaw Pact and NATO."
"Many who just oppose 'the bomb' somehow think that if the Manhattan Project had failed, or we had dropped the bomb on a deserted island as a demonstration; that all military actions would have been put on hold."
"Not even close."
"They forget how truly brutal and savage WW2 was; especially on certain fronts like the German/Soviet front and the actions in the Pacific and China."
"A proposed naval blockade would have eventually brought Japan down, but certainly the loss in life would have been far worse - in the millions."
"Few people know that in Europe, after the German surrender in May 1945, another 1 - 2 million died from disease, starvation, the cold, etc."
"That was in an area where the Allies had a far greater ability to bring in food, medicines, etc for the civilian populace and POWs. In Japan, we would not have had anything like that logistical footprint to work with."
"Severely slashed food intake combined with the onset of Japan's winter months .... you are talking nationwide famine on a historic level."
- Rogue1371
"At the time, half of Japan's military leaders were in favor of surrender, while half were against it."
"But even the surrender group was split between the 'surrender now for best terms' camp and the 'make the war as bloody as possible to force the US into more favorable terms' camp."
"And the anti surrender camp was so strong that there was a battle fought to keep the emperor's decoration of surrender from being broadcast."
"So the question of whether or not the bomb were needed is a question historians will be debating for centuries."
- PiLamdOd
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Plastics
"I'm very interested to see what todays world would look like if plastic wasn't invented."
- llama606
"The medical world would suffer, I think. Most everything else would be able to cope."
- PG67AW
"I don't know. We started using plastic in all of our vehicles in the 1940s. Cars would be completely different."
"And every computer part ever made needs it - so that's two really huge parts of the world just obliterated right there."
"This would also mean no trash bags, no plastic grocery bags, no scuba gear, no space craft, no fire extinguishers, no air conditioning, no microwaves. Humanity would've persisted but wow it'd be a mess."
"But hot damn it would've been good for the planet."
- origional_esseven
"Nah, all those plastic pieces would be replaced by some sort of metal equivalent or glass if it needs to be clear."
"Flexible plastics would be replaced by rubbers"
"Plastic is literally just a cheaper and easier-to-make alternative to already viable and more recyclable materials. Greed is why we use it."
- musicalrssnroulette
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This Punderful Thread
"The wheel"
- azmetrex
"Some men just don't want to watch the world turn.'
- LongFeesh
"Someone would just reinvent it."
- toKenblaKKman
"This would have devastating consequences."
"I mean, without the wheel, what would Jesus take?"
- Ekaj__
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The Smaller Ones
"Cigarettes"
- corgiheavenlavender
"Early tobacco manufacturers, selling cigars and pipe tobacco:"
" 'He wants us to stop selling the smaller ones? Hokay man, whatever you say!' "
- CAustin3
"Only difference is there would be more pipes and cigars. People have smoked tobacco since around 4000 B.C."
- DontUpvoteNotWorth
"There's an ungodly amount of boutique and other fine cigars."
"Without the smaller cigarettes, you wouldn't have had the Affordable ads that addicted the world."
"Cigars remain a luxury good instead."
- Helphaer
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Gender Reveal Crossbows
"Gunpowder. I wanna be able to carry a saber everywhere."
- Specialist-Ad475
"Then how are we going to kill everyone at a gender reveal?"
- TackYouCack
"Gender reveal crossbows"
- Youpunyhumans
"I came here to say this. Imagine what the world would be like without gunpowder."
"European countries wouldn't have colonized everything and many countries would have been allowed to advance and use their own resources as they see fit or at least have a chance to protect their homes."
- all-boxed-up
"You can have the guns but I want my fireworks!!"
- inval1d_name
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Thomas
"Thomas Midgely adding lead in gasoline. One of the single worst ideas ever."
"Lead is extremely poisonous. I’m sure you’ve heard of lead poisoning."
"And it stays around a very long time. Everything- and I I mean everything - has dangerous amounts of lead in it."
"The grass, water, food you eat, even your body has at least 50 times the natural amount of lead because for 60 years every car on the planet spewed lead out of it’s tail pipe until it was discovered that it is killing millions across the world."
"Lead made engines run a bit more smoothly. That’s why it was put in to petrol in the first place."
"But nobody would admit to how dangerous it was until the 1970’s. The lead is still here to stay though."
- cjheaford
"That guy went on to invent CFCs for an encore, and punched a hole in the ozone layer."
- Tariovic
"Yeah lead poisoning is related to developmental and learning disorders as well mood disorders."
"The affects of lead poisoning on society and on discourse in society is rarely talked about."
- Ser_Dunk_the_tall
"Adding this guy onto my to-kill-list when I get a time machine."
- Parano78
"Not sure you could do a better job killing him than he did of killing himself."
"After being left with severe disabilities after contracting polio, he devised a pulley and rope system to get himself out of bed. One day he got entangled in the ropes and was strangled to death."
- Tariovic
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Punishment From A Greek God
"Those impossible to open plastic things that holds in stuff"
- differentiatedpans
"Scissors in the clamshell packaging seems like a punishment a Greek god would dole out."
- MyKarmaHitMyDogma
"I've got scissors specially designed to open clamshell packaging...... that came in clamshell packaging!"
- KriegerClone02
"I don't understand why band saw manufacturers don't cash in on that market."
- hitmannumber862
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We're Not Cars
"Cars."
"Our cities are ridiculously car-centric and not made for a human being. But guys, here me out :"
"We are not cars! We are humans and we made an environment suited for something else entirely!"
- Commercial_One_4594·
"100% agree."
"Humans have been caged to sidewalks which are too narrow to walk side by side, left crumbling, and often vulnerable to 2 ton weapons that can end your life in an instance while letting the careless driver more times than not to walk free."
"Also 75% of the urban fabric in cities are dedicated to cars and their storage and everyone is just okay with the waste of space and the lack of sensible design and potential to house people where those asphalt deserts lay!"
"It's absolutely maddening."
- SwimmerNos
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Mass Communication
"Movable type is the answer. Nothing else would have remotely as big an impact if you wanted to change world history."
"The first form of mass communication allowing thousands of minds to consider the same problem with the same information and distribute each of their answers to everybody else... how to dig mines, how to build bridges, how to improve crop yeilds, which metal treatments and alloys worked better."
"And also how to build warships carrying guns, how to train troops to use guns, which gun designs worked best, new ways to make guns."
"Gutenberg's invention of the BUSINESS of printing allowed/caused one section of the world to not only re-work every aspect of it's own society but to conquer the entire rest of the world."
"Every single aspect of our world is a consequence of this and we are all members of the resulting civilization -- Published Civilization."
"We're going through another similar, though not quite as profound transformation currently."
"Ever since Gutenberg, mass communication has required resources like patrons, publishers, etc. and consequently those roles created gatekeepers. Smartphones and social media have allowed ANYONE to say ANYTHING and reach a world audience with zero resources."
"There were always 'flat-earthers' but when their mass communications were the mimeo machine prints they could run themselves and convince people to read, they remained insignificant."
"Now the one-in-a-million are all talking to each other and consequently there are thousands of them able to organize.
"People need to remember that Gutenberg also gave Europe 500 years of bloody religious war."
- Oknight
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It's your turn, fam.
What's an invention you think might have changed the whole game?
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The old wives' tales.
They are the stories of legend.
I think we all need a big DEEP Google dive though.
Where did they originate?
WHO ARE THE OLD WIVES!
You don't hear about them as much anymore.
It's like science and logic are suddenly a thing.
But they sure are a good way to keep your kids and their behavior in line.
Redditor the_spring_goddess wanted to discuss the tall tales we've all been fed through life, so they asked:
"What is an old wives tale that people still believe?"
"Wait an hour to swim after eating."
What a crock!
So many summer hours wasted.
I want revenge for that one.
Say Nothing
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"An undercover cop has to tell you he's a cop if you ask him."
LonelyMail5115
"Pretty much most advice when it comes to cops are old wives tales. I’m not even a cop but most of the advice you hear is pretty off."
I_AM_AN_A**HOLE_AMA
Say Something
"That you have to wait 24 hours to report someone missing."
Severe_Airport1426
"I really think this one is important and should be the top regardless. As it’s a piece of advice that needs to be relearned and the only way to do that is through awareness."
crappycurtains
"This used to be true. I think they changed it after some guy named Brandon went missing back in the '80s or '70s. You used to have to wait 24 hours if the missing person was an adult because they had 'a right to be missing' and then everyone realized that was stupid and stopped doing it."
AlbinoShavedGorilla
Body Temps
"That drinking ice cold water after eating oily foods will solidify the oil and permanently remain in your body. I informed my coworker that if your body temperature ever reached that point, you’d have bigger problems than weight gain."
chriseo22
"Oh, I have a cousin who 100% believed this. One of those guys who believed every early 2000s internet rumor and old wives tale. One night I chugged a big glass of ice water after dinner and he started freaking out and saying my guts were gonna harden."
"I sarcastically told him to drive me to the hospital if that happened. Obviously, nothing happened and the next morning I said something like 'Thanks for being on standby in case my guts filled with hardened oil.' He just walked off muttering under his breath."
apocalypticradish
Arms Down
"When I was pregnant, I was told by young and old alike that I should NOT raise my arms above my head or exert myself in such a manner because it could cause cord strangulation to my unborn sons and daughters."
Fatmouse84
10 Years Actually
Unimpressed Uh Huh GIF by Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Giphy
"Chewing gum stays in your stomach for 7 years."
"I remember accidentally swallowing a piece of gum when I was a kid in like 1995 and just accepting my fate like welp, gonna have this in my stomach til high school I guess."
Gecko-911
I was so afraid to sallow my gum when I was young.
This tale is haunting.
High/Low
Hungry Debra Messing GIF by Will & Grace
Giphy
"You can tell the sex of the baby by how you carry."
LeastFormal9366
"Pregnancy certainly wins awards for the most old wives tales. So much absolute BS was repeated to us by everyone we talked to."
IllIIIlIllIlIIlIllI
The Cursed
"If you’re a woman and you wear opal jewelry but opal is not your birthstone (October), you’ll never be able to have children, or will be widowed, or just generally have bad luck or something. You can counteract this by having a diamond in the same piece of jewelry as the opal, though."
"I have a nice opal ring that my parents gave me years ago, and I’ve had other women give me this 'advice' unprompted more than once when I’ve worn it. I have absolutely no idea where it started, but I’m pretty sure this little chunk of silicate rock has no concept of what month I was born in, let alone of how my reproductive organs work."
SmoreOfBabylon
Stay In
"Going outside with wet hair will make you get pneumonia. Or an earache. Or maybe arthritis. Depends on which old wife you listen to."
"Jokes on them - I haven't blow-dried my hair in decades and usually leave the house with wet hair in the morning. On winter mornings, the tips of my hair get frozen. No ear infections or pneumonia or arthritis yet."
worldbound0514
Dreams and Facts
"You never make anyone up in your dreams you've seen everyone in your dreams somewhere else before and never make anyone up entirely."
"How would you possibly prove that to be true? My partner adamantly believes this and tells me this 'fact' whenever I have a dream about someone I've never met before."
mattshonestreddit
"My late wife used to tell me that before she met me she would have dreams of standing at an alter on her wedding day but could never see the guy's face, no matter how hard she tried. After meeting me the face was filled in with mine. Don't know if it's true but one of those things I like thinking of every now and then when I miss her."
Darthdemented
Cracked
Getting Ready Episode 2 GIF by The Office
Giphy
"Some people still believe cracking knuckles causes arthritis."
Choice-Grapefruit-44
"There's a doctor (Donald Unger) that cracked his knuckles a couple of times a day for 60 years, but only on one hand, just to prove it. Both hands remained exactly the same."
MacyTmcterry
I love my knuckles.
Do you have any tall tales to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.
