Not all inventions vastly improve our lives.
They can complicate things. Technological advances, for example, have increased rapidly and made our lives so much easier.
The internet and smartphones are incredible inventions, and we can't imagine life without them. But they do come with complications.
When we rely so much on virtual transactions and something goes wrong, I always lament about how interacting and communicating with a person is more reliable for finding solutions.
Advanced tech – sometimes we can't live with them, but we definitely can't live without them.
But there are other inventions that have raised concerns. To find out more Redditor idc_aboutusernames asked:
"What invention has done more harm than good?"
Whoever thought these enhancements in life were a good idea were very shortsighted.
It's Over Our Heads
"Popcorn ceiling"
"Some of the older ones have asbestos in it too! So keep that in mind if you have a roof leak or ceiling damage."
Economy Flush
"Those low flow toilets that result in you wasting more water because you have to flush it multiple times to get it to take a log down."
"Best solution I've seen is a toilet with two buttons, one for a half flush, and one for a full flush."
Perpetual News
"The 24-hour news cycle."
– BSH72
"At a certain point reporting facts stopped being the primary goal of such channels, instead they report whatever will keep viewers watching."
"Works ok for a 30min news segment, but with 24 hrs that ends up over sensationalizing every little story."
– kdeff
These inventions proved to be more harmful or insufficient than benefiting society.
The Time And Money Sucker
"Slot Machines. Once you get a taste of winning some money back, it gets eaten up in no time. You might think you can beat the system, but that's how they suck you in and take you for all you are worth. These things are rigged to payout when a lot of money has been fed into them so you have to be extremely lucky to get the big jackpot."
– Missrcl
Bad Brew
"Coffee pods. Even the creator deeply regrets his invention and the environmental impact it has had."
– Lasting_Wonder
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"Polygraph test. Even its inventor, John Larson, regrets his invention upon realizing how law enforcement would exploit the average citizen with it."
Tap Tap Tap
"Lobotomy. Worst Nobel Prize winner ever."
– Maaniker
"It's such a f'ked up thing that so many people AT THE TIME knew was f'ked up."
"I mean, it was essentially a way to make people with diseases easier to take care of by rendering them half dead. There was barely a pretense of it *actually* treating an illness. Monstrous."
– jebedia
Google Docs - create and edit documents online, for free.
Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.Toxic
"Leaded fuel, CFC... uhm basically anything Thomas Midgley was involved with."
– Satures
"Agreed, lead poisoning was a well known thing at the time. CFC's punching holes in the ozone layer would be an understandable miss."
How Sneaky
"Data mining and ad delivery services disguised as social media."
– sev1nk
Its Effect On Us Is Anything But Sweet
"High fructose corn syrup."
– [deleted]
"Well they did need something to make food better after they stripped all the fat and nutrients out of our food supply. We had an exchange student from France one year and his for question was 'why is all of your food so sweet?'"
– Aert_is_Life
It Just Looks Pretty
"Individually packaged foods and snacks."
"I work at a grocery store and it's abhorrent to me how much crap there is and how well it sells. I mean, Christ, yesterday I stocked 'Nutella to go' packs that are... Nutella with pretzel sticks. They're tiny and come in small plastic tubs. Or those large bags of Reese's cups that come individually wrapped, or these ridiculous 1oz bags of freeze dried fruit that we sell which are absurdly popular, especially for how relatively expensive they are at $3 a bag."
"I get that plastic itself isn't bad, but this is egregious to me, especially with how much my generation (I'm 34) has had overuse of landfills drilled into our skulls."
– drlavkian
Bad Habit
"Cigarettes. Those things ruined my life. I don’t smoke them anymore and have had to resource to other things. Peer pressure and wanting to fit in is an a**hole"
– Sam_in_peas
These inventions are just obstacles preventing us from getting the things we see but can't get.
Not A Toy
"Those plastic containers that are like crimp plastic stitch welded around the entire edge and it's super thick plastic that will slice your sh*t open."
"Wrap rage, also called package rage, is the common name for heightened levels of anger and frustration resulting from the inability to open packaging, particularly some heat-sealed plastic blister packs and clamshells."
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Online Nuissance
"Pop-up ads."
"Think of all the malware and viruses that people have fallen victim to because of pop-up ads, plus they are just annoying. Even the inventor of them apologized for creating them."
– -eDgAR-
While they are convenient, I think Keurig machines cluttering offices are not necessary for the home. Besides, K-cups are harmful to the environment as they wind up in landfills due to their difficulty of being recycled.
I much prefer taking the time to grind coffee beans and brew my coffee with my Cuisinart coffee maker.
Not only is a fresh pot of coffee noticeably more bold and delicious, making your own potted coffee is a lot cheaper than spending loads on replenishing your K-cup supply.
I'd much rather save my money and the environment.
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