war!...the mother of invention

[claymore]

Where would we be technologically speaking without all the wars and conflicts that have been going on ever since we learned to hit each other with sticks? It seems like there is nothing like a good stouch to fire up the boffins to find bigger and better ways of exterminating each other. We spend more on research and development for military purposes than anything else, admittedly with great benefits to mankind along the way.

[gilf]

Not sure really as I think there could be just as good a counter argument that had we not spend much of our history destroying each other we could have made better use of our time inventing stuff.

As far as I know the steam engine had no military use, or wasn't designed with that in mind, and that allowed the industrial revolution which totally changed the landscape of the world.

For me what has been a massive barrier (and in some way is linked to war) is the availability of slave labour. Why spend time and money developing a system to make something more efficient when you can simply do it with more man power.

The Egyptians are a prime example of this, if you look at the time period they were active, about 3000 years, they did pretty much ****** all in terms of advancing technology, yet in the last 1-2 hundred years we have gone from using a horse as the best mode of transport to getting somebody on the moon.

[Scarramouch]

the egyptians advanced our knowledge in architecture, engineering, sea travel, agriculture, irrigation, mathematics, metal working and gilting, masonry, building in general, and the written word to name but a few. It is also emerging that the so called slaves who built the pyramids were more likely to be willing farmers looking for an income in their off season. I am not saying there was no slavery. Also of course some advances have been made without a view to conflict but most have been refined by war. Ships used the steam engine for example. Look at civilisations who long ago abandoned war. They are technologically stunted. Not saying this is a bad thing.

[PeteHull]

Mankind was given the gift of Free Will along with instructions by the creator. Those instructions were to go into the world and make it good. The first "Job" anyone was given, (a gardener). It was the first human pair who messed up big time, and in that, it was the woman (who was made from the man) who allowed herself to be decieved by the evil.
This was the first human sin and the first man then allowed her to be led on, ignoring all the instructions he had recieved from the creator, (The only one who has the right to decide what is right and what is wrong) from that time everything that has happened Has happened.

Logical....

Pete