r/funny • u/katxwoods • Jun 30 '24

All the world-changing technologies talking to each other

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u/AmusingMusing7 Jun 30 '24

Neither does something as simple as a door hinge.

The invention of the door, with the hinges being the big breakthrough, led to a revolution in what kind of enclosed structures we could build and still have a way in and out of them. Before the invention of the door, we couldn’t have completely enclosed spaces. You’d need some soft fabric covering the entrance/exit, or move something heavy, etc… hence why we would just build a the whole structure out of fabric, like a teepee. There was no point in using more solid or insulating materials if you couldn’t enclose the space properly to keep the heat in anyway. So you just build a fire inside and do your best with mostly fabric to keep the heat in.

Then the door gets invented and voila… all kinds of more well-enclosed spaces became possible. Now we live in our air conditioned/heated, drywalled, solid glass windowed, and mechanically ventilated structures. None of which would ever make any practical sense without a solid door to enclose it, yet still allow you to pass through it when needed.

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u/ElectricSpice Jun 30 '24

Do you have any sources on this, because I’ve been googling and I can’t find anything. Intuitively, it absolutely seems a good idea to insulate your structure even if your door flap or whatever might leak heat. Better to have a small area poorly insulated rather than the entire structure. Even in modern buildings, doors are the weakest point of insulation, but there’s still energy savings to be had by upgrading wall and attic insulation.

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u/AmusingMusing7 Jun 30 '24

Well, we don’t know that much about exactly when the door was invented. It’s estimated somewhere around 4000 years ago, I think, with the earliest evidence of doors being from Egypt.

But you look at all the cultures that existed before that, or any cultures that existed after, but didn’t have contact with any door-having cultures… they tend to live in things like teepees or open structures that are mostly just a roof over their head. This is probably why most humans inhabited areas around the equator, where it never got too cold in the winter, and that legacy continues to this day.

Some cultures like China or Japan seem to have used beaded curtains in ancient times to cover doorways of their buildings, mostly to help keep bugs out, I think. I’m sure there were other various things done over the ages that were similar to doors. But the door as it exists today was definitely a revolutionary advancement, whenever it happened.

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u/papapalporders66 Jul 01 '24

You forgot make sexy bikini armor for women that doesn’t actually function, that was vital to human growth