Well, if we don't all blow it.
I liked this video that talks to health and wealth over the last 200 years.
I wonder how much of this change, this growth, is due to democracy, to capitalism, to science, to the printing press, to industrialization, to coal or to oil?My Brother Lance will be pleased to note that I found the switch that allows multiple answers and turned it on. I wonder how that will work out.
Regards — Cliff
The printing press would seem to be creditable for more than the past 200 years. Combine it with Science and you have my vote.
ReplyDeleteOf course, when you fat finger the poll and double-click "Printing Press" and hit enter too quickly, that part of your answer gets lost, and it won't let you go back and fix it...
ReplyDeleteI set it up so you can vote again tomorrow. I am still learning about this poll thingy.
ReplyDeleteBut, thanks for trying to play.
Regards — Cliff
Hmmm...do we have too many cause and effect choices here?
ReplyDeleteI'm with Kad - the printing press is far too old to be mentioned here, although its contributions to democracy and science are immeasurable. Therefore, it remains to this day probably the most important invention ever.
Science and fossil fuels fed into industrialization, which created a market for more fossil fuel exploration and freed more people to work in science.
That, I think leaves capitalism. In fact, I don't quite understand how the world functioned before it - a good indicator that it might be way up the list. But to that, I say the rise of the merchant class was a product of the demise of feudalism as far as I know (which democracy was also borne out of) - and that I believe was caused by the highly democratic musket...and some claim major changes in agriculture tied to climate change and plagues.
Therefore, I didn't vote ;-)