Comments on: The Greatest Human Achievements http://lbrandy.com/blog/2009/05/the-greatest-human-achievements/ { on programming and the internets, every monday } Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:14:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Rain Johnson http://lbrandy.com/blog/2009/05/the-greatest-human-achievements/comment-page-1/#comment-26409 Rain Johnson Mon, 26 Apr 2010 21:00:31 +0000 http://lbrandy.com/blog/?p=795#comment-26409 And so if witches are still burned, then mankind is still not deserving of God's greatest wonders as of yet.Perhaps another 100 yrs will help those who are blind to All wonders and blessings from God. And so if witches are still burned, then mankind is still not deserving of God’s greatest wonders as of yet.Perhaps another 100 yrs will help those who are blind to All wonders and blessings from God.

]]> By: deno http://lbrandy.com/blog/2009/05/the-greatest-human-achievements/comment-page-1/#comment-26385 deno Sat, 10 Apr 2010 22:08:24 +0000 http://lbrandy.com/blog/?p=795#comment-26385 Nice article. Wikipedia all the way. @jackson Why United States of America ?? Nice article. Wikipedia all the way.

@jackson
Why United States of America ??

]]> By: jackson http://lbrandy.com/blog/2009/05/the-greatest-human-achievements/comment-page-1/#comment-26208 jackson Sun, 10 Jan 2010 05:24:29 +0000 http://lbrandy.com/blog/?p=795#comment-26208 i've spent my time in the shower obsessing over the "great human achievement" and so i had to google it and found you. glad to see you hit a bunch of mine (especially Wikipedia!) i was also thinking the I.S.S., the Bible, and the United States of America. i’ve spent my time in the shower obsessing over the “great human achievement” and so i had to google it and found you. glad to see you hit a bunch of mine (especially Wikipedia!) i was also thinking the I.S.S., the Bible, and the United States of America.

]]> By: Ken http://lbrandy.com/blog/2009/05/the-greatest-human-achievements/comment-page-1/#comment-6828 Ken Mon, 18 May 2009 18:34:07 +0000 http://lbrandy.com/blog/?p=795#comment-6828 Science (mostly physics), engineering, computing. Are you, perchance, a geek? :-) These are great accomplishments, sure, but it's pretty one-sided. I'd also include human accomplishments in other categories, like: - Herodotus (the "Father of History"), who showed how to research, test, and record history systematically - Gandhi, who showed how it's possible for a small soft-spoken person to liberate a subcontinent from a foreign power without lifting a finger ("Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth." --Einstein) - Beethoven, who wrote what many consider to be the greatest symphony of all time, while completely deaf - Bruce Lee, who was not just a top martial artist and international movie star, but whose shows of strength and physical ability are still unbelievable, especially for his size - sciences that are not called "physics" :-) Mendeleev (chemistry), Mendel (biology), Crick and Watson (biochemistry) - you make a nod to fire, but I think other ancient developments, like agriculture and domestication and written language were arguably just as significant I'm a bit of a geek myself, but the internet does not make proximity unnecessary, unless the only things you consume are packets of binary data. If anything, by dropping the cost of sending binary data, the internet highlights how often proximity is supremely important. Science (mostly physics), engineering, computing. Are you, perchance, a geek? :-)

These are great accomplishments, sure, but it’s pretty one-sided. I’d also include human accomplishments in other categories, like:

- Herodotus (the “Father of History”), who showed how to research, test, and record history systematically

- Gandhi, who showed how it’s possible for a small soft-spoken person to liberate a subcontinent from a foreign power without lifting a finger (“Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth.” –Einstein)

- Beethoven, who wrote what many consider to be the greatest symphony of all time, while completely deaf

- Bruce Lee, who was not just a top martial artist and international movie star, but whose shows of strength and physical ability are still unbelievable, especially for his size

- sciences that are not called “physics” :-) Mendeleev (chemistry), Mendel (biology), Crick and Watson (biochemistry)

- you make a nod to fire, but I think other ancient developments, like agriculture and domestication and written language were arguably just as significant

I’m a bit of a geek myself, but the internet does not make proximity unnecessary, unless the only things you consume are packets of binary data. If anything, by dropping the cost of sending binary data, the internet highlights how often proximity is supremely important.

]]> By: __sleep http://lbrandy.com/blog/2009/05/the-greatest-human-achievements/comment-page-1/#comment-6826 __sleep Mon, 18 May 2009 16:21:39 +0000 http://lbrandy.com/blog/?p=795#comment-6826 brandy old man, you had me at $carl_sagan_quote. i couldn't agree more about wikipedia. i look forward to the day when it is more closely linked with my brane. brandy old man, you had me at $carl_sagan_quote. i couldn’t agree more about wikipedia. i look forward to the day when it is more closely linked with my brane.

]]> By: louis http://lbrandy.com/blog/2009/05/the-greatest-human-achievements/comment-page-1/#comment-6824 louis Mon, 18 May 2009 15:30:26 +0000 http://lbrandy.com/blog/?p=795#comment-6824 @roland, One day I'll make an error-free post. One day I swear it. @Errant I actually tried making a better list and it was a miserable failure. There are just too many. I do think its an interesting exercise to think of those that are underrated. Einstein, Newton, etc are obvious. That's why I included Pasteur. Although it might be wrong to give him the credit for the germ theory of disease, that theory has had a gigantic impact on human kind. We used to burn witches (and in some places still do) because we didn't understand disease. I also left out the scientific method, intentionally, even though it's probably the most profound and world shattering concept ever conceived. @roland,

One day I’ll make an error-free post. One day I swear it.

@Errant

I actually tried making a better list and it was a miserable failure. There are just too many. I do think its an interesting exercise to think of those that are underrated. Einstein, Newton, etc are obvious. That’s why I included Pasteur. Although it might be wrong to give him the credit for the germ theory of disease, that theory has had a gigantic impact on human kind. We used to burn witches (and in some places still do) because we didn’t understand disease.

I also left out the scientific method, intentionally, even though it’s probably the most profound and world shattering concept ever conceived.

]]> By: Errant http://lbrandy.com/blog/2009/05/the-greatest-human-achievements/comment-page-1/#comment-6823 Errant Mon, 18 May 2009 15:22:28 +0000 http://lbrandy.com/blog/?p=795#comment-6823 There are so many names missing from the first list though, really. Discovery of atomic structure was, arguably, as important as any discovery we have made: so Boyle, Dalton and Thompson (the infamous J.J. of Cavendish Labs fame). Those 3 deserve as much recognition as the others :) There are so many names missing from the first list though, really. Discovery of atomic structure was, arguably, as important as any discovery we have made: so Boyle, Dalton and Thompson (the infamous J.J. of Cavendish Labs fame). Those 3 deserve as much recognition as the others :)

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