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Ah, the problem is that modern inventions are really embedded in a practice and theory. The invention may be simple but the practice and theory are not. So I w
by omarhaneef 7y ago
Ah, the problem is that modern inventions are really embedded in a practice and theory. The invention may be simple but the practice and theory are not.
So I would put up soap as a contender. Simple, saves hundreds of thousands of life, prevents diseases and so forth.
But soap, as an invention, is embedded in the modern practice of washing, which requires our modern knowledge of germs and diseases, as well as our modern effective plumbing system to bring the clean water and dispose of the dirty water.
Of course if it didn't require those it wouldn't be modern.
- avian 7y ago"The earliest recorded evidence of the production of soap-like materials dates back to around 2800 BC in ancient Babylon." [1] Soap is not a modern invention and its usefulness in cleaning was recognized way before modern knowledge about diseases. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap#Ancient_Middle_East https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap#Ancient_Middle_East
- new2628 7y agoAnd arguably, soaps available in shops are getting worse with every iteration. Enter a big store in most of the developed world, and you can hardly find a regular soap bar anymore (only liquids, "hydrating bars", etc.). Craft markets still have them luckily.
- reidjs 7y agoCurious as to why you prefer regular soap bar over liquid soap?
- new2628 7y agoWith liquid soap I always feel like I can never fully remove it from my skin, no matter how long I rinse it with water afterwards. With a soap bar my hands just feel cleaner, less greasy. They also last longer and are easier to store/transport, need less packaging, etc. Also basic soap bars have two or three main ingredients whose effects are fully understood and have been used for centuries if not millenia. The list of components of the latest liquid soaps is far more obscure, no-one knows their long-term effects on us and the environment.
- AngryData 7y agoMany of those are likely detergents rather than soaps because it is less harsh on your skin and thus easier to market and sell. I hate moisturizers and greasy bullshit or whatever else in soap though which is a lot of liquid soaps.
- oska 7y agoDetergent is more harsh on your skin than (real) soap.
- DantesKite 7y agoReminds me of Jonathan Blow's observation that knowledge doesn't necessarily make it to the next generation and progress is sometimes lost. https://youtu.be/pW-SOdj4Kkk https://youtu.be/pW-SOdj4Kkk
- omarhaneef 7y agoI hope you see you’re making my point. Soap without the hygiene practices isn’t soap with hygiene practices. And those practices are predicated on a theory of germs
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]