The bicycle. I'm stunned it didn't come along earlier.
Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
321–330 of 583 posts
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#322Earlier quoted context omitted.
His story is so sad though. He was ostracized by the other doctors and medical community who didn't believe him and indeed openly mocked him. He remained outspoken about his findings until a colleague forced him into an asylum where he was beaten by the guards and died.
They didn't believe him in part because he was a notorious asshole, and in part because he was insistent on a root cause analysis of hand-washing that was clearly false. He also didn't "invent" handwashing, which was already the normal protocol by the time he began practicing; rather, his contribution was a particular antiseptic handwashing protocol (chlorinated lime).
How do you figure it was “clearly false”? Once his protocol was implemented, mortality rates from childbed fever plummeted. It turned out the reason so many people had been dying from it was that obstetricians were performing pathological observations on mothers who had died from it and then gone straight to delivering babies without disinfecting in between. This is readily available info on his wikipedia but also recently appeared in an episode of 99PI which is where I learned about it. I’d be interested to see more information presenting an alternative history.
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#323Running hot water.
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#324Apropos time to link my favorite blog: https://rootsofprogress.org/. It's an exploration of the things that helped humanity leap forward.
Spoilers: empirically-informed hygiene, and textile manufacturing techniques.
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#325Earlier quoted context omitted.
As a counterpoint, here in the US Midwest, I currently have three pairs of jeans, two thermal shirts, and two button downs that I rotate through and wash honestly maybe quarterly. Other clothing items I go through more quickly, but I'm planning to start giving my undershirts a couple rotations before washing them as well. Same with socks. The main thing I've noticed is that natural fabrics don't pick up smells nearly…
Quarterly? Yikes. People can smell you, and you stink, they are just too polite to say anything. Ask a very trusted friend, one who does laundry regularly, how you smell.
I assume my wife or kids would more than happily tell me. Particularly my kids since they find jokes about smelly things to be highly amusing. And they don't really understand the concept of being polite yet.
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#326Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I can now buy more pens for $100 than I'll ever use in years I just checked and you can get a pack of 60 Bic Ballpoint pens for $4.50.
I mean it's one banana, Michael, what could it cost...10 dollars?
Depends if it's in Australia after a Northern Queensland cyclone.
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#327Earlier quoted context omitted.
> the number of hours saved by Washing machines and Dishwashers. This is true, but to some extent over-stated I think. We have a family of five, and don't use our dishwasher. I just do the dishes every morning while I listen to the news on the radio. It takes less than an hour. As far as washing machines, I agree that they are quite convenient, but the truth is most clothing doesn't need to be washed nearly so often…
An HOUR? To do the dishes? That seems like an enormous consumption of time. I would suggest that you might consider reallocating this time. For example, if you have three children are any of them old enough to help do the dishes? Initially it will take you more time, but children love to contribute to the household at first, until they are taught not to by being told they're doing it wrong.
> An HOUR? To do the dishes? That seems like an enormous consumption of time
You will note that I said "less than an hour", which in my life basically equates to "a trivial amount of time". Most days it's probably closer to a half hour.
It's also a fairly leisurely process of me listening to whatever they are talking about on the radio.
When the kids are bigger, I'm sure we'll teach them how to do the dishes and other chores around the house. For now, our oldest just turned four and is probably approaching big enough to grasp the concepts, but doesn't really have the attention span to see it through to the end.
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#328I don't know if it's the most important, but it's a great example of how a very simple innovation had huge benefits. The Fitch Barrier are those big orange barrels you see on the side of the road. They're filled with sand inside, and basically help to dampen the momentum of a car that veers off the road. They were invented in the 1950s by John Fitch, a Formula 1 driver who just came up with them as a quick and dirty…
I’ve only ever seen them in North America, why is that?
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#329Rubber o-rings, or as a generalization, rubber gaskets.
They allow the use of fluids in an extremely wide range of applications.
Also, unfortunately they led to the Challenger explosion in 1986.
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#330soap, sanitation and germ theory of disease.