If man has been there millions of years ago, how come we only invented most of the things just 150 years ago?

Question

Just think of it! Barely about 150 years ago there was no -
aeroplane, space craft, television, mobile phone, satelite, computer, internet and ALL THE BREADTH-TAKING INVENTIONS of the 20th & 21st centuries. If mankind has been in existence since millions of years ago, how come we did not find breath-taking inventions by our forebears of say, only 10,000 years ago? Why did it take millions of years for us to advance in our IQ to be able to invent some of these things? Don't we think that man has not been that long in the universe?

Answer 1

its not that these people werent thinking of science it was just that much of the "masses"(peasents) weren't educated. the ones that were were from the clergy(church) so a science was not part of religion as we all know because God invented it all and there shouldnt be any questions or impovements but there were scientists who had ideas like devincci he had sketches of some good working tech that we have now.

Answer 2

Basically one thing led to another. You won't get anywhere with any technology without fire, so someone had to control fire.

then you need to get metals from ores. For millions of years humans would not have even known you could get metals from ores. It was probably an accident. Somebody may have noticed that a when they had a rock in the fire that metal leaked out of it.

The start of the metal age was with Bronze. The stones for the great pyramids were cut with bronze tools nearly 5000 years ago. But bronze is not very hard. Someone had to come up with something harder.

So, they learned how to make fires hotter and eventually came to smelt iron.

The Iron age lasted a few thousand years and it wasn't until the 18th century that someone figured out that by adding carbon to iron you could make steel.

So, you see, it has been a progression since early man created fire. You don't get anywhere without the right metallurgy

Once steel could be made into huge structures because of its strength, things just took off - trains, ships, large buildings, cranes, cars, planes, rockets - you have it.

The point is, the more technology you have the quicker you move onto the next invention. It accelerates because you have a bigger basis of knowhow to call upon.

Good question though.

Answer 3

We didn't live back in those times and there may have been plenty of breathtaking inventions come up with back then, but times were different. They didn't have the patents back then, or maybe no exposure, or just not the right materials to use yet. I think there are plenty of inventions that even more breathtaking than the internet, computers, etc. Take the indoor toilet for instance. I certaintly would be lost if I had to go in an outhouse or outside-yuck. I don't know why it took so long. I guess that is just how mindkind works. I am sure our families down the line many many years from now will be asking the same question.

Answer 4

Like so many aspects of science, it is an exponential curve with a big area of low rise and long run, a shorter area where the rise increases dramatically and a short area where the rise is nearly vertically while the run is very short. I think it is obvious that you have never studied science because if you had you would have recognized this pattern since is repeated over and over. I take exception to your claim that Mankind has been around for millions of years. According to my understanding, the branch that separated humans from apes broke off about 4 to 6 million years ago and Homo Sapiens developedd about 100,000 years ago. Modern man, Homo Sapiens Sapiens developed a mere 10,000 years ago. In addition, it is hard to develope science when your existence is dependent upon a hunter and gatherer society.

Answer 5

There are a couple of things that you need to understand about how technology advances. In the early days of human society, the emphasis was on mere survival. At that point, we were hunter gatherers. This is not a very efficient way to make a living. So, most of our attention had to be focused on just obtaining the necessities of life (food, clothing, shelter). Everybody had to work toward obtaining these necessities. Therefore, there was not much time to work toward technological advancement.

Then came the agricultural revolution. The introduction of agriculture meant that people could start to produce a surplus of food. This meant that some people could start pursuing things other than the necessities of life. Thus they could start advancing technology more rapidly. However, there was still a problem. How do you transfer the knowledge? How do you pass on new discoveries to others?

Enter writing. With the development of written languages, man gained the ability to pass on knowledge to people over great distances and of different times. However, the potential of writing didn't really come into its own until it was combined with the printing press. Before the printing press, books had to b e copied by hand. This was slow and expensive. The printing press made it possible to make many copies very quickly. So, knowledge could be disseminated more easily and cheaply.

In our own era, we have even faster ways of transferring knowledge. However, this has always been the key to advancement. First we had to develop the means to be able to afford time on research. Then we needed to have the ability to distribute new discoveries so that people can build on the discoveries of others. As our ability to do these things has increased, so has the rate at which technologies advance.

Answer 6

Excellent question! My response would be that I suppose the importance of the inventions you speak of are relevant.
Of the top of my head I would say that utilizing the power of fire, wheel, and basic agricultural tools would be much more important than say an air plane. Why? Well you can't eat an air plane and the air plane is a huge polluter and is helping to destroy our ozone layer. Think about what you really need for survival and basic enjoyment??? Raise a few animals, crops make a crude musical instrument and sit around the fire and eat drink and be merry! Ask your self in this world of hate, superficiality, and pollution are we better off with these inventions??? The only recent inventions really essential would be some basic medical ones.
See the Mennonites and the Amish are the smart ones!
It's relative and depends on your perspective.

Answer 7

Man's IQ probably hasn't changed much (By the way and IQ is a very limited test it represents only a fraction of mental capability). What you need to realize is the amazing amount of chemistry that is required to make plastic and fiberoptics. You can't have a computer without it. You have to Harnes electricity (Done more that 150 years ago) before you can make a phone or television.

What you want to know about, is...
THE TECHNOLOGICAL SINGULARITY!

Search for it at Wikipedia. But it basically predicts unparalled advances in technology that may not be to far away. The time between GREAT discoveries decreases everyday. Someday, it is presumed humans will be overwhelmed by their own technology, it will advance fast than we can understand it. This is sometimes refered to as an ATLANTIS INCIDENT or MAYAN DOOMSDAY *scheduled for 2012 by the way.

Have you seen the new airplanes? quieter and more fuel effecient.
Do you know about String theory, nanotechnology, self-replicating space probes (van Neuman probes)...Cybernetic bio-implants.

JUST YOU WAIT. Your (great-grand) children will think the fact we all used binary computers was like writing in stone.

Just you wait.

Answer 8

I think that your idea of what constitutes an invention or development is rather limited.

It is worth looking at the development of mathematics. The development of mathematics comes from a need to have a tool to describe, calculate and predict. Take a look at this link.......
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_mathematics
and then look at why the various cultures developed the math's that they did.

Investigate the Indus Valley culture that developed accurate surveying methods, city planning and mass production of bricks thousands of years BC.

Looking at more modern machines, the first patent for a steam engine was in 1698 and came out of a need to pump water out of mines. Remember that we are still using steam engines today to generate electricity (turbines in nuclear power stations).

Although mathematics has been important to development, so has the ability to store information and pass it on at a later date. For this we required the ability to write. Alphabetical writing has it's origins prior to 1000BC.

In my travels around the world, I have seen systems for providing water a sewage services to large towns that date back before the time of Christ, irrigation systems also dating back that far and multi-story buildings. All of these were major inventions that allowed individuals in a community to specialize so that bigger and better things could be invented and developed.

Answer 9

There have been inventions.
Just take a look at the wheel. A humble thing today! But when it was invented million of years ago, it was probably breath-taking. The design may have changed, but the basic principle remains the same even today! Just look into the evolution of man, you'll realise there were inventions back then too!

Answer 10

Well, that far back, there was no Layers. Which means no patient attorneys to help protect there invention. So they kept them in thier heads and took them to the grave. Even if there was one hiding somewhere. he had no phone so you could call and make an appointment. Also, if by chance he had stolen the phone invention, and invented one for himself, and he was out hand washing his club, and someone called, there were no answering machines to leave your # on. And if he had stolen the patient on cell phones and had call forwarding, he couldn't call forward because no one had invented the towers as of yet. And even if he had stolen the patient for the towers, nobody invented the automobile as of yet. So how are you possibly going to drive over to the Grayhound bus terminal. And IF he had stolen the car patient, and you drove to the bus terminal, you guesses it, no buses yet. Putting all that aside, and say you could get to him one way or another, the lawyer couldn't give you very good directions cause no one has yet to invent roads, towns, counties and states, plus signs, and names. And even if you were lucky enough to have him live next door to you, you couldnt talk with him because no one invented languages yet, so in my opinoin, I blame it all on the Lawyers. Its there falt 100%. There now you know why we didn't invent the TV, Micro, remote toys, etc. Blame it all on them Attorneys.

Answer 11

evolution of the human brain has been going on during those long long long yearsand before 'recently' man was not capable of creating such things. but also a tool, knife, hammer , arrowhead - - these are breath-taking inventions to a primitive man. you forget about amazing inventions and discoveries by ancient cultures. Recalll the greeks and romans with their architecture and aquaducts and mathematics. Ancient egypt and cultures in south america also have had their technological advances. It has taken the rise of these discoveries, abilities and knowledge before our time to lead us to this point of advancement in our lives as a culture and a species.