History's most underrated inventions.

[Ranger REG]

Roads are definitely under appreciated.

There's a reason for that: potholes.

 

[mythusmage]

Very underrated. Without paper, we wouldn't have Charmin.

Imagine using a papyrus.

Or leaves.

In Arab lands one eats with one's right hand, and 'chases away cling-ons' with the left hand. The practice of taking a thief's right hand as punishment for theft was, for all intents and purposes, a sentence of death by starvation. You never use your left hand to eat from the communal plate.

Now think of all the things we use paper for. If you're ever caught out in the woods on a chilly night, and you have a copy of the day's newspaper on you, wrap the newsprint around your body next to the skin, then put your clothes on over it. It'll keep you warm. The Sunday New York Times should suffice for a troop of boyscouts.

And who can forget the fun of working with papier machie?

 

[mythusmage]

There's a reason for that: potholes.

In the case of potholes "undermined" works better.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

How about paper?

No love for the stone slab, eh?

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Or leaves.

And who can forget the fun of working with papier machie?

My sister has a talent for leaf machie.

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

I didn't know chariots were under-appreciated. I've always had a very healthy respect for the chariot as an instrument of war.

 

[mythusmage]

I didn't know chariots were under-appreciated. I've always had a very healthy respect for the chariot as an instrument of war.

Over rated trash. Flimsy, easy to upset, couldn't handle rough terrain worth crap, used up resouces like nobody's business. For every warrior carried by a chariot an army could field two to four cavalrymen. And cavalry is tons more maneuverable.

So why did people use chariots for so long? Because until the 3rd Assyrian Empire (the one the Medes and Chaldeans trashed) nobody had the courage to try riding horses instead of using them to pull chariots.

And let me point out that when certain Indo-European tribes were introducing the ancient civilizations to the chariot, other Indo-European tribes were actually riding horses. Thing is, they're the ones who drove the chariot using tribes out of the Indo-European heartland.

BTW, don't give me any guff about horses being too small at first to carry riders. Horses have always been large enough to carry riders. Those studly heroes of yore were simply lousy riders.

 

[Ferret]

What about the map?

 

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

What about the map?

Or longitude and latitude.

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

That's pretty cool, Mythus.