Top Innovations in Human History
One could hardly imagine the modern world without devices that people use in their everyday life. They make our existence more convenient, comfortable, and efficient. However, these inventions result from the years of investigations that promoted the development of human thought and triggered scientific evolution. Besides, there are also some innovations that had an overwhelming impact on the history of humanity.
The first one is the discovery of electricity and the possibilities for its usage in everyday life. Being a macro-level innovation, it altered the image of the world and introduced numerous opportunities for its further development. The second significant discovery is the creation of the combustion engine as it introduced the new era. The third one is the usage of penicillin to heal patients suffering from various diseases (Grabianowski para. 6). The controlled use of fire is another important innovation. Finally, the creation of money altered the world greatly and conditioned the development of the market. All these discoveries could be considered macro-level innovations as they changed the world.
If to speak about electricity, its investigation was a long-term process that demanded great intelligence and practical skills. For this reason, it is difficult to determine a certain innovator as many people contributed to the development of the issue. Thales was the first to notice this phenomenon while William Gilbert introduced the term electricity; finally, Benjamin Franklin created the first theory related to this issue and introduced the new era (“History of Electricity” para. 8).
This innovation could be taken as radical as its impact on society could hardly be overestimated. Nowadays, life is unimaginable without electricity as it has obtained new features that made it one of the main modern resources which could hardly be replaced by something else.
Top Innovations in the UAE and the MENA Region
The MENA region has a very bright history which is characterized by the appearance of numerous ancient states and unique cultures that conditioned the development of scientific thought. Moreover, being one of the regions with a rich cultural heritage, the given land has always been considered one of the main suppliers of new inventions. In these regards, it is possible to highlight three main discoveries that had a great impact on the whole world.
The first one is coffee which was firstly made in Yemen in the 9th century. The famous drink helped Muslims to spend nights worshiping their God. Nowadays, one of the most popular goods which are used all over the world. Coffee became one of the main symbols of the modern era, and its importance is evidenced by millions of people consuming the product. Furthermore, algebra is another invention that changed the course of our history. It is difficult to trace the origins of this knowledge; however, numerous scientists agree that it was studied in the MENA region. One realizes the significance of this invention and the effect it promoted on the further evolution of various fields of science as modern progress could hardly be achieved without the basic knowledge of algebra (Sterns para. 5).
Finally, decorative cosmetics were invented to emphasize the beauty of rulers in Egypt. All these phenomena had a great impact on society and could be considered macro-level ones. Unfortunately, at the moment, the given region does not show great scientific progress and does not provide new practices or tools that could change the world (Osman para. 7). However, the realization of the great competitive advantage conditioned by innovations might contribute to the further development of the region. I believe that I should also participate in the process and promote the evolution of science.
The Role of Innovation in Human History
It is obvious that innovations have a great impact on society and trigger the process of change that alters the traditional approaches and introduces the new practices. Very often, these shifts in practices could not be accepted by the community, and it prefers to ignore them. However, this approach conditions isolation and stagnation that results in the collapse of this very community. For instance, feudal Japan did not accept the firearm as its idea contradicted the values appreciated in society. The honor code emphasized the usage of swords as the only weapon that should help a noble warrior in battle (“Samurai and bushido” para. 9).
That is why the country was not able to resist invaders who used the newest weapon and destroyed the Japanese army. This case perfectly demonstrates the impact mentality of a certain community has on the acknowledgment of a certain invention.
Cogitating about the role of inventions in history, the Roman Empire should also be mentioned. Being a civilized country that promoted the development of science and technological progress, it was the dominant force in the ancient world. This fact is evidenced by the absence of communities that we’re able to resist Quirites. The relations between the Empire and barbarian tribes could be considered the best example to prove the idea.
Numerous barbaric tribes were not able to conquer the Roman Empire because of its dominance in military, cultural, and political spheres. Besides, innovations played a crucial role in this opposition. Romans devoted great attention to the evolution of military science and created the professional army equipped with the best weapon and headed by talented commanders (“Science and Technology in Ancient Rome” para.5). That is why technologies and innovations served as the guaranty of the prosperity and dominance of the Roman Empire.
Potential Negative Consequence of Innovations
It is widely accepted that innovations have a great positive impact on the evolution of society and promote its further development. However, there are numerous discoveries in which nature could be considered contradictory as their appearance resulted in numerous problems, conflicts, and deaths. Everyone remembers the aftermath of nuclear strikes. This fact introduces debates about the negative consequences of innovations.
If to speak about the business world, it could be considered on the of the spheres that change dramatically. The appearance of new practices results in significant changes in some traditional approaches. These alterations are focused on the improvement of the companys functioning and its efficiency; however, the usage of the new practices also conditioned the failure of the enterprises using the old ones, and hundreds of people lost their jobs (Pianta 5). That is why it is crucial to consider the consequences of the implementation of a certain innovation.
Additionally, innovations in the health care sector could be taken as the most ambiguous ones. It is conditioned by the nature of the given sphere as it deals with human life. There are several concerns related to the given issue. First, a number of modern approaches appeared due to inhuman experiments that caused a lot of deaths. For this reason, the question of the price of innovations appear. Secondly, some of the modern discoveries might contradict the ethics and accepted values (Shaughnessy para. 6). Finally, there are numerous examples of when various medicines were used for some other purposes. Still, there are many innovations that had a pernicious impact on society and introduced a great threat to its security.
The above-mentioned spheres are not unique ones as the progress impacts all fields of human activity and introduces significant changes to the functioning of various enterprises, organizations, companies, institutions, etc. However, the further development of technologies and sophistication of the approaches towards digital devices introduce the problem of certain sciences evolutions practicability.
For instance, the development of the food industry resulted in the creation of harmful nutritional supplements that have a great pernicious impact on the health of a person. Moreover, the evolution of the chemical industry promoted the appearance of numerous artificial materials that do harm to the environment (Sveiby et al. para. 8). Resting on the given facts, it is obvious that certain limitations should be introduced to monitor the state of science and possible outcomes of a certain invention. Humanity has entered the era of digital technologies, and it is vital to be able to stop as once these inventions could destroy us. Hadron collider or artificial intelligence already poses a great threat to our security as no one could predict the results of their functioning (De Looper para. 6).
Altogether, humanity should reconsider its approaches to innovations and make a pause to analyze the aftermath of the further evolution of various devices or approaches. Otherwise, one day we will not be able to perform some kind of activity because artificial intelligence will decide that we do not need it and deprive us of this opportunity.
Works Cited
De Looper, Christian. “Is Artificial Intelligence Really A Threat To Humanity?” Tech Times. 2015. Web.
Pianta, Mario. The impact of innovation on jobs, skills, and wages. 2004. Web.
Shaughnessy, Haydn. The Positive and Negative Equity of Innovation Cultures. n.d. Web.
Sveiby, Karl-Erik, Pernilla Gripenberg, Beata Segercrantz, Andreas Eriksson, and Alexander Aminoff. Unintended and Undesirable Consequences of Innovation. 2009. Web.
Samurai and bushido. n.d. Web.
Science and Technology in Ancient Rome. n.d. Web.
Osman, Sara. Unlocking Jordan’s science potential. 2013. Web.
Sterns, Olivia. “Muslim inventions that shaped the modern world.” CNN. 2010. Web.
Grabianowski, Ed. 10 Inventions That Changed the World. 2013. Web.
History of Electricity. n.d. Web.