Most important technologies from history.

[Verbose]

But it does not mean that those "human hedgehogs" were totally unharmed.

Most likely - they had a number of more or less serious wounds all over their body, because some of those arrows certainly reached their skin and flesh. However - penetration was not deep enough to kill them, considering that they were still moving. And many arrows probably didn't even reach their skin.

The armour primarily involved in stopping arrrows was the padding, which made up quite a lot of the European armour. There tends to be a lot of emphasis on the metal carapace created, and then the crucial role of padding in Medieval armour often gets ignored.

 

[dhuntgen]

Agriculture, Writing, The wheel, Horseback Riding, Gunpowder, Electricity, Internet. I thınk These inventions changed the world.

 

[Flying Pig]

I don't think there's any hard-and-fast cut-off for a modern nation-state, but there is certainly a combination of factors - including the existence of a mostly-independent technocracy, large-scale state spending on welfare programs and the separation of the military and civilian government - which comprises modern nation-states. Yes, I'm aware that last condition removes Israel from the list; I have no issue with that.

I think you're confusing the terms 'developed country' and 'modern nation-state'. A nation-state is simply a country in which nationality and citizenship overlap - France is a nation-state because, for the most part, if you're a French citizen, you're French, and if you're French, you're a French citizen. Welfare and democracy are in no way part of being a nation-state.

 

[Lord Baal]

I think you're confusing the terms 'developed country' and 'modern nation-state'. A nation-state is simply a country in which nationality and citizenship overlap - France is a nation-state because, for the most part, if you're a French citizen, you're French, and if you're French, you're a French citizen. Welfare and democracy are in no way part of being a nation-state.

I know what a nation-state is. Hence, my repeated use of the word "modern." you're right in that I basically mean a developed country, but developed countries existed before radio

 

[Agent327]

Horseback Riding

the potato, of course, is a nice answer as well.

Those might qualify as discoveries rather. Unless viewed as domestication and agriculture.

 

[Gucumatz]

Fertilizer (Synthetic particularly) has to be near the top.

 

[Arakhor]

Agriculture particularly made the world even possible.

 

[History_Buff]

But, like I pointed out earlier, that's pre-history, and thus doesn't count

 

[aronnax]

Buttresses.

Where would we be without all those buttresses.

 

[Silurian]

We would have to use flying buttresses.

 

[Nick Carpathia]

Organised religion.

Because being able to get thousands of people into a force operating under a unified hierarchy is pretty difficult when you're depending on personal tribalistic relationships (even if it's not particular good for the people at the bottom of the hierarchy).

 

[Lord Baal]

Organised religion.

Because being able to get thousands of people into a force operating under a unified hierarchy is pretty difficult when you're depending on personal tribalistic relationships (even if it's not particular good for the people at the bottom of the hierarchy).

Religion isn't a technology.

 

[History_Buff]

Religion isn't a technology.

Well, that's debatable. It's no more a technology than Democracy or Divine Right or what have you. But it definitely could be one, depending on your definition.

 

[Lord Baal]

Well, that's debatable. It's no more a technology than Democracy or Divine Right or what have you. But it definitely could be one, depending on your definition.

Look up the definition of technology, please. This isn't the Civ the tree.

 

[History_Buff]

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/technology

tech·nol·o·gy
noun

1. the branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, society, and the environment, drawing upon such subjects as industrial arts, engineering, applied science, and pure science.
2. the terminology of an art, science, etc.; technical nomenclature.
3. A scientific or industrial process, invention, method, or the like.
4. The sum of the ways in which social groups provide themselves with the material objects of their civilization.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology

The word technology refers to the making, modification, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems, and methods of organization, in order to solve a problem, improve a preexisting solution to a problem, achieve a goal, handle an applied input/output relation or perform a specific function.

 

[Flying Pig]

I think there has to be a goal in technology - thus the production line would count, but not 'religion' as a concept.

Edited for benefit of hindsight.

 

[Silurian]

Many technologies were developed with no goal other than the pursuit of knowledge. For example electricity was developed over many years before it was put too a practical use.

Organised religion may have been developed with no goal but it has certainly been used to control people.

 

[Flying Pig]

Sorry; I'll amend - it has a goal in the sense that it is used for something. So the wheel is a technology because it is used to help move loads; something which has absolutely no function, such as religion, impressionism or modernist poetry, is not a technology.

 

[Silurian]

So the cinema is not a technology?

It is only used to entertain people like impressionism or modernist poetry.

Some people use religion as a comfort for the bad things in their lives, there may be better ways but it has some function.

 

[Flying Pig]

Modernist poetry in itself does not entertain people; the means of distributing it do. Impressionistt painting as a concept does not entertain people; looking at paintings (and thus the technologies of the canvas, oil paints, etc) and creating them does. I'm not entirely sure of the precise semantic difference here, but I do think that there is one.