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Theresa tells us that the free market economy is "the greatest agent of collective human progress ever created."
The thing is, I think most of what she says is wrong, so statistically this probably is as well. I can think of a few better candidates:
- mains sewers
- antibiotics
- bicycles
Is she right? Am I wrong? What other candidates are there for this award?
Sharp edged cutting tools were a bit of a great leap forward.
Maybe not the greatest agent, but certainly up there. Free markets are brilliant things [i]in the right place[/i] but the difference between her and me is that I think there are areas that should not be subjected to free market principles.
Anyway, more fundamental than that is the invention of money. It allowed people to do things other than farm or hunt all day. Stuff like invent things and study theoretical principles
I don’t think we’ve ever truly had a free market economy, it’s actually a highly restricted and controlled market that exists to keep the ball rolling for another political term.
I’d probably say the Internet, the western world has changed massively in the last 10-15 years, we’ve advanced in a lot of ways in those last few years than we did in the last 200 years.
War
Wheels and domestication of animals
Kendal mint cake
Nuneaton town council
Love the idea that TM is an advocate of free markets!!! If only....
War
Huh?
What is it good for?
Glass would probably be up in the top 5 I reckon.
Antibiotics look like they'll be bit flash in the pan in the long term. It looks like our children will be a generation that will die of illnesses that our grandparents generation were the first to survive.
What is it good for?
advancing technology at a greater rate
advancing technology at a greater rate
Say it again.
HURRR!
[quote=perchypanther ]War
Huh?
What is it good for?
the correct answer is...
absolutely nothing 🙂
Mathematics was a pretty good one too.
Language, both spoken and written.
What other candidates are there for this award?
Agriculture.
the correct answer is...absolutely nothing
Good God now! Say it again. 😉
Language, both spoken and written.
Or even language in terms of 'thought'. Its actually quite difficult to image what you're thoughs would be like without language to articulate them.
Have you noticed how you can't adjust the volume of your internal monologue? You can try and shout or whisper but it always stays the same.
I think there are areas that should not be subjected to free market principles.
She thinks this perfect thing needs to be well regulated so there you have it the best thing we ever did for humanity was red tape.
TBH dark satanic mills is what it gives us and 10 people being as rich a 505 of the world if you cannot think of anything better than this then you have a very limited imagination
NB I am not a socialist in the traditional sense and i care that resources and wealth are fairly distributed I dont much care about the method of ownership and all that marx /capital stuff.
Arguably the biggest agent though is 'education'. Plenty of species are capable of learning but we're the only species to teach. Learn a behaviour, modify and refine it, teach it to someone else.
Empathy?
agriculture and the domestication of livestock. (If we're going for change) Fire, Housing, clothing, tools all important, but as an event that changed our history, I reckon that's probs it.
The greatest agent of making progress ever created?
Surfmatt.
[b]FIRE!!!![/b]
And sausage rolls.
A free market would be great. What we have instead is a rigged corporate oligarchy stuffed with privatised monopolies. I presume that's what May will be singing the praises of
And they say she has no vision? Pfft!
Some may say that the free market has led to loads of other things, many mentioned above.
Interesting to see her busy with some personal "creative destruction"...
we're the only species to teach
I don't disagree with your nomination, but plenty of species have been observed [url= https://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/National-Wildlife/Animals/Archives/2015/Animal-Teaching.aspx ]'teaching' their offspring [/url]beneficial behaviours and strategies for living.
the free market economy is "the greatest agent of collective human progress ever created."
If she truly believes this is true, it makes her approach to our biggest market slightly odd.
Language is the correct answer.
Language is the correct answer.
Guess it depends if it is something specifically thought up or not. Since I would have thought language would go into the latter category.
Writing would be a good candidate though.
I dont know why she couldnt just say "mixed economy" though. I guess that would be an admission that it makes sense for the state to be a lot more involved. Especially in the early research stage where making any profit from an idea is only a distant dream.
Beer.
No, really. Bear with me.
Our early ancestors we largely nomadic, hunter-gatherer types. This meant difficult days, poor survival and no leisure time.
At some stage, natural fermentation was discovered, with the inevitable side effects. However, in learning to control this fermentation our savannah skipping chums would have realised that to produce beer they needed to allow fermentation to take place, rather than stumble across a pre-fermented batch.
This led to groups lingering in one area, while they waited for their brew to ferment, during which time they would have spent time in a local area, rather than roaming as before.
Over time, this has led to the beginnings of settlement, for instance in caves where the brew could be left to ferment. Likewise early agriculture arose from this more fixed lifestyle, which allowed for crops to be tended and maintained. In turn, this led to the establishment of homes, and the time spent travelling could now be used for more cultural pursuits. That started with cave painting, etc and early tools, the control and management of fire, so on and so forth.
The time needed to teach and nurture our children was previously spent hunting or gathering. The time needed to make tools was now available. Fires warmed the caves, cooked our foor and and lit our painting; language developed to express cultural ideas. The notions of society evolved, and so forth.
Without beer - the incentive to linger in one place - we'd still be wandering the plains looking for lunch.
Beer.No, really. Bear with me.
Is it this one?
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I don't disagree with your nomination, but plenty of species have been observed 'teaching' their offspring beneficial behaviours and strategies for living.
depends on your definition of teaching. Within the other great apes you have a sort of money-see-monkey-do. Parents will patiently allow themselves to be observed while they perform a task until their offspring mimic them. But if we teach a chimp sign language chimps don't go on to impart that new skill to their offspring and peers and thats because we've 'taught' them the skill rather than demonstrated sign language in front of them. Chimps have yet to learn how to throw a board rubber for example, or sew leatherette elbow patches on their jackets.
the incentive to linger in one place
[puts chairs on tables]
"Haven't you lot got homes to go to?"
isn't that a koala?
Language is the correct answer.
not for progress though, Homo Habilis probably had lanaguge, lived as H/G for millions of years without getting beyond stone tools.
At some stage, natural fermentation was discovered
Nice theory, but rotting fruit will ferment, and if you need to get out of your head, than there are any number of natural agents that will do that from mushrooms, to hyperventilating while dancing around in a circle, plus of course beer needs wheat...which needs agriculture.
isn't that a koala?
Nope..... Those are just pockets. He's wearing a jacket.
She's obviously not tried a dropper post yet.
You may jest but they're responsible for a fountain in the town centre that presents an enduring challenge to society - filling it with washing up liquid and getting it to overflow with bubbles. A sure sign of human progress.Nuneaton town council
I agree that trade has been invaluable in ensuring that we generate wealth and avoid going to war with neighbours over resources.
However, to simply stand up at a lectern and announce "you've never had it so good" is hardly going to go down well when we live in such a divided society where wealth isn't shared.
I read an interesting article (which I now can't find) that investigated the positive impact that the domestication of dogs had on human progress. A great read and I'll post it up if I can find it.
thought this was going to be the 'hugh heffner has died' thread...
the positive impact that the domestication of dogs had on human progress
Can confirm this is not the case.
Took me ages this morning to get out of the house due to an extremely persistent 9 week old cockapoo puppy attacking my shoelaces.
Progress was negatively impacted.
This man. He revolutionised engineering and transport and we are still using most of what he built, almost 200 years later.
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Oil maybe, without that then not a lot else would have came about.
OP is right, sewers (oh and clean water supplies).
As for capitalism, although I suspect we are all to a greater or lesser extent capitalist in our outlook, a total free market without checks and balances would be/is an utter social disaster.
Also, I only wanted to be a Civil Engineer so I could wear a hat like Isambard's. I was a bit too late.
Surely the Joint-stock company.
Without such entities many technological, medical or scientific inventions marking human progress would not have been possible.