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A comment on Why did the peoples of the New World fail to invent the wheel?.

Re:Why did the peoples of the New World fail to invent the w... by GrandMasterBirt on Sunday May 17, 2009 @06:15AM (#613253)
The wheel in itself isn't anything grand. Its just a circular object which is quite useless on it's own.

You must invent 2 wheels, an axle and something to attach them to. Thus you have a use for the wheel as a starting point.

However wheels do not allow you to haul large super-heavy blocks for pyramid construction, you need a bunch of wooden sticks and manpower at best.

So yea a wheel was quite a unique invention. I am willing to bet 3000 years from now if humans still exist, someone will be saying "yea I can't believe people lived without this electricity thing... its so damn obvious! A two-year old can invent it."

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Re:Why did the peoples of the New World fail to invent the w... by yummyfajitas on Sunday May 17, 2009 @10:57AM (#613454)
A one-wheeled vehicle is hardly useless on it's own.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Wheelbarr...

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Re:Why did the peoples of the New World fail to invent the w... by gchpaco on Sunday May 17, 2009 @06:02PM (#613994)
Still needs an axle, though, and making those things out of wood is surprisingly difficult.
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