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originally posted in:Sapphire
Edited by Uncle Putin:
2/12/2013 12:56:38 AM
9
Well it depends on how you define "best". In terms of military, we are the superpower of the world. In terms of things like freedom, rights, opportunity etc, there are plenty other countries like us. Great Britain, France, Spain, Australia, Germany, Canada, Japan, Belgium, Normandy, Norway, Poland, Sweden. They all have freedom and rights. America is not the only country that has freedom. We have the biggest economy, but that is soon to be surpassed by China.
America has created some of the most important and significant inventions of the world. We made the telegraph, the light bulb, the revolver, the atom bomb (although the "greatness" of this can be disputed), the production line, the internet, powered flight, the suspension bridge, digital computer, microwave oven, the integrated circuit, GPS, the list just goes on and on. So in the respect of modern inventions, we are the single greatest country in the world.
However, there are some things like corruption, abnormally high murder rate, terrible welfare system, massive debt, obesity, terrible education (we're ranked something like 27th in the world for mathematics) etc that can all arguably make us one of the WORST first world countries in the world. So it all depends on where you look at it. Our legacy is great. Our future is not.
English
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Well, even the economy really depends whether you count the Eurozone or not. ;) [quote]the telegraph, the light bulb, the revolver, the atom bomb (although the "greatness" of this can be disputed), the production line, the internet, powered flight, the suspension bridge, digital computer, microwave oven, the integrated circuit, GPS[/quote]Of these, only the electrical telegraph, assembly line, powered flight and GPS are unambiguously American. The rest are a lot less clear cut.
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The first usable light bulb was invented by Edison. Although he did not technically invent it, he made it so that it could be used by the general public. He also created the modern electrical grid to supplement his light bulb. I'd say he should get the credit for that. Samuel Colt invented the revolver. No other pistol had been made with a revolving chamber/magazine/whatever as far as I know. I'm not an expert on guns so I could be wrong, but I'm almost certain that Mr. Colt was the first one to mass distribute it to the general public. The integrated circuit was invented by both Texas Instruments and Fairchild Semiconductor. Texas instruments filed a patent for miniaturized circuits, and Fairchild Semiconductors received a patent for silicon based integrated circuit. Those were the only two companies that were developing the IC at that time.
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All three of these are victories for American engineering, rather than American invention, per se. Colt did indeed mass distribute it, and it was a vast improvement over previous designs, but it came about 300 years after the first revolver. Modern electrical grid is also a bit of a stretch and ignores quite a bit of other work, along with the fact that he "won" through better advertising rather than the better technology - AC is vastly more useful in most situations. The IC builds off work by a German engineer for Siemens and a British radar guy. American silicon fabrication and engineering enabled it, but it was dreamed up elsewhere. Swan's lightbulb was impractical and not useful in mass distribution, but it was the first. Inventing something is a world away from bringing a useful product to market, or repurposing another technology or idea. I'm not disparaging American engineering, ingenuity or willingness to market their ideas aggressively (though it's not always the best thing in the world), I'm just being pedantic.
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Greatest modern technology huh?? Somebody hasn't seen the list of British inventions which spanks the inventions of everybody else. For example Internet, the MODERN internet, TV, Computers, jet engine (Now including the Sabre engine), Tanks, Aircraft carriers (What Americans base their strength on, your welcome) I would list more if I could remember them. Industry could be considered an "invention" in the loosest possible way.
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[quote]Germany... Germany. [/quote] You really like Germany, don't you?
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Oops haha. Didn't see that.
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27/207 isn't terrible, that's 6 places away from the top 10%.
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Edited by Coovyy: 2/11/2013 11:45:42 PM[quote]"...Belgium, [b]Normandy[/b], Norway,...[/quote] Huh? Isn't Normandy in France?
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yeah lol
