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WhatWouldMountainDew on scored.co
1 year ago4 points(+0/-0/+4Score on mirror)1 child
So that's a big academic argument about whether or not "Africans invented the wheel" and whether or not they did is kind of a moot point because THEY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WITH IT.
The whole reason the wheel is considered a technological breakthrough is because of WHAT YOU COULD DO WITH IT. It would be like saying "ackchyually, James Watt didn't invent the steam engine, Hero of Alexandria did in 1 B.C." while completely ignoring the fact that all it did was spin. The reason we consider James Watt's steam engine the beginning of the steam age is BECAUSE HE DID SOMETHING WITH IT.
The one guy sort of pointed this out; for a wheel to be useful, you need roads (debatable: barrows and waterwheels are useful either way), and they never built roads.
As you say, anyone can make a disc that rolls but road construction and maintenance requires sophisticated organization and skilled workers.
The whole reason the wheel is considered a technological breakthrough is because of WHAT YOU COULD DO WITH IT. It would be like saying "ackchyually, James Watt didn't invent the steam engine, Hero of Alexandria did in 1 B.C." while completely ignoring the fact that all it did was spin. The reason we consider James Watt's steam engine the beginning of the steam age is BECAUSE HE DID SOMETHING WITH IT.
As you say, anyone can make a disc that rolls but road construction and maintenance requires sophisticated organization and skilled workers.