As much as I dislike the kind of civilisation we humans have built for ourselves, I am also amazed at how much we have achieved in our journey thus far. It’s no wonder that we are the dominant species of the planet.

Coupled with our intelligence, we have innovated our way through any problem that has faced us and over thousands of years of doing that, we have achieved the highest status among our fellow inhabitants.

Granted, some of the things we’ve built or discovered over the millennia have been accidentally done so, but most of the times, it’s that necessity, that has always pushed us to keep making the seemingly impossible, possible.

This is perhaps the single most impressive thing about our race. Even as we speak, we are tackling some of the largest problems we’ve ever had, like we always have.

How Necessity Breeds Inventions

If you study our evolution from the time we were cave dwellers, it will be clear as day that much of the progress we have accumulated since then has been a direct result of necessity.

We started building shelters hundreds of thousands of years ago to protect ourselves from attacks by wild animals. Overtime, these became small villages, kickstarting the first signs of a civilisation. Along with shelters, we also built and refined weapons to protect ourselves and to hunt.

Some 12,000 years ago, we started farming for the first time to reduce our dependence on wild animals and berries. That required a lot of inventions in regards to tools and what not.

As many settlements started appearing on the face of the planet, we also realised that we could trade with each other, to get the stuff that we didn’t have. This entailed inventions of their own, like transportation method, storage methods of goods, system of trade and what not.

As time progress, we invented writing, which revolutionised everything. The wheel was yet another important invention of our history. The paper, printing press, musical instruments, compass, the process of smelting, sailing and a million other things were all invented out of necessity.

In the more modern times, we built communication methods like radio, telegram, cell services, posts, the internet, smartphones, computers, all out of the need to stay connected with one another. We also invented several ways of transportation including planes, cars, trains, ships, and many others.

We also invented education system, money, the scientific method, medicine, which all catapulted our race many centuries in the future. Even more impressive, we invented ways of leaving the planet itself, like rockets and satellites.

These are just a fraction of the millions of things we have invented ever since our time as cave dwellers. The more I read about how much we have created, the more I am amazed and impressed by our history and really appreciate how far we have come.