[OT] [I mean totally OT] Re: What can you "new"

[Sean Kelly]

Christopher Wright wrote:
> Walter Bright wrote:
>> Andrei Alexandrescu wrote:
>>> My list:
>>>
>>> - wheel
>>> - fire
>>> - smelting metals
>>> - writing
>>> - arithmetic
>>
>> But humans had fire 20,000 years ago! I think fire goes back a lot 
>> longer than that. I also suspect that simple arithmetic is innate, 
>> although a numbering system is not (see Mayan and Roman number systems).
>>
>> Wouldn't the wheel be useless to a hunter-gatherer tribe?
> 
> If they are nomadic, wheels allow an individual to carry much more 
> equipment. This allows them to store up surplus food more easily and 
> safely. This in turn safeguards them from famine and allows for excess 
> food to diversify roles in the community to a greater degree. 
> Additionally, it means that the writing equipment that you supplied gets 
> used, and the texts don't get tossed as soon as they move.

I don't buy it.  Most foods would spoil too quickly for this to matter, 
the wagons would be slow, wheels would need repair, etc.  If I were in a 
nomadic tribe I wouldn't do more than pile stuff on the back of a Mule.