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

[Ellery Newcomer]

Steve Teale wrote:
> dsimcha Wrote:
> 
>> == Quote from Walter Bright (newshound1 at digitalmars.com)'s article
>>> Sometimes I think what if I were dropped naked back in time 20,000 years
>>> ago? Assuming I didn't get promptly cooked for dinner, what technology
>>> could I deliver that would have the most impact?
>>> I can't decide between iron, agriculture, or writing. I suspect writing.
>>> Every time humans got better at communicating, there was a huge increase
>>> in the rate of progress.
>>> speech
>>> writing
>>> printing
>>> telegraph
>>> telephone
>>> internet
>> One that noone seems to mention, not only on this NG but in general, is birth
>> control.  I think a pretty good argument can be made that a major reason for
>> recent social advances is that, by only having 2-4 children per set of parents
>> instead of 10-20, parents are able to invest much more in each child than they
>> otherwise would be.  The end result is a much more educated society and one with
>> enough surplus resources to look beyond its mere collective survival to actually
>> improving its state of knowledge, comfort, etc.
> 
> But how the hell would you have delivered that. First of all you have to deliver chemistry and latex!
> 
> 

There actually was an herb that apparently provided effective birth 
control in ages past. It eventually went extinct due to overharvesting.

http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=851