on inventing the wheel
They say the wheel is the greatest invention known to humankind.
It must have been incredible for the people who dreamed it up - the sudden speed and ease with which objects moved.
The stuff of dreams.
I wonder if, in their wildest dreams, they could have imagined where that simple wheel would take us?
Did they envisage the transformation of transport? Were metallic cars with four wheels pictured in their mind's eye? Or giant caterpillars skimming along ribbons of steel? Did they think of the endless possibilities?
I wonder too if they contemplated the carnage to be wrought at the hands of a wheel. Crushing forces breaking bones. Grinding metal tearing flesh. Skidding tyres snuffing out life.
Another motor vehicle accident in Tasmania. (blast those winding roads!)
Another fatality.
Another statistic.
What price a wheel? Would they have invented it if they'd known all this?
Labels: road traffic, technology
posted by cecily @ 9:18 pm
5 comments
5 Comments:
You have the weirdest way of thinking about things.
Interesting tho.
Cec,
Luke is right, you do look at things a little askew, but so do most famous inventors:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janusz_Liberkowski
He's the guy who invented the spherical car seat for infants (after his daughter died in an auto accident)
He also won "American Inventor".
So, here's to thinking sideways!
Cheers!
~T
Ahem... I'm not sure if I like the labels weird and askew so much! In little Tasmania, if I see a car accident reported on the news, chances are I'll be looking after one or more of the victims, often from both cars involved. This is the case at present. It breaks my heart to see the damage wreaked by cars (and poor driving, but often I nurse the people who were doing the right thing)and the way lives are turned upside down. I suspect I carry a lot of unresolved grief about this because each story is a tragedy in its own right. Wheels are a good thing, but I can't help wondering how different the world would be without cars whizzing along roads at high speed.
Aw Cec,
You're an angel. All nurses are. And I like the way you see life.
My sister worked as an ER nurse for many years, she finally took a break a few years ago because it was too much. She said the car accidents were by far the worst.
~T
The Amish didn't use wheels for a long time. It's only been about 15 years in some places when they actually put rubber on their carriage wheels. The government made them do it because they were ripping up the streets. They still don't use tractors they use horses and man driven plows.
The only thing they have to worry about is the crazy people driving cars. The Amish walk mostly everywhere. One time some crazy guy ran into five of their children with his car, they all died. The Amish community forgave the man, they said they don't believe in hate, it's too distructive.
The guy has to live with what he did. Such a sad story because of the wheel.
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