Why Wasn’t the Wheel Invented Sooner? (Encore)

Everything Everywhere Daily

Gary Arndt

History, Education

4.8 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 20 May 2023

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

If you were to ask most people what the very first invention that humans came up with is, many of them might say the wheel. It isn’t a bad guess, but believe it not, the wheel was nowhere close to being the first invention. In fact, as far as we know, there were a whole bunch of things that were invented before the wheel, and in fact, probably had to have been invented before the wheel. Learn more about why the wheel wasn’t invented sooner on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors BetterHelp is an online platform that provides therapy and counseling services to individuals in need of mental health support. The platform offers a range of communication methods, including chat, phone, and video sessions with licensed and accredited therapists who specialize in different areas, such as depression, anxiety, relationships, and more. Get 10% off your first month at BetterHelp.com/Everywhere ButcherBox is the perfect solution for anyone looking to eat high-quality, sustainably sourced meat without the hassle of going to the grocery store. With ButcherBox, you can enjoy a variety of grass-fed beef, heritage pork, free-range chicken, and wild-caught seafood delivered straight to your door every month. Visit ButcherBox.com/Daily to get 10% off and free chicken thighs for a year. InsideTracker provides a personal health analysis and data-driven wellness guide to help you add years to your life—and life to your years. Choose a plan that best fits your needs to get your comprehensive biomarker analysis, customized Action Plan, and customer-exclusive healthspan resources. For a limited time, Everything Everywhere Daily listeners can get 20% off InsideTracker’s new Ultimate Plan. Visit InsideTracker.com/eed. Subscribe to the podcast! https://link.chtbl.com/EverythingEverywhere?sid=ShowNotes -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Peter Bennett & Thor Thomsen Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Update your podcast app at newpodcastapps.com Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The following is an encore presentation of Everything Everywhere Daily.
0:04.0	If you were to ask most people what the very first invention that humans came up with is,
0:12.0	many of them might say, the wheel and it's not a bad guess but believe it or not the wheel was nowhere close to being the first invention
0:19.0	in fact as far as we know there were a whole bunch of things that were invented before the wheel and in fact probably had to have been invented before the wheel could be discovered.
0:28.0	Learn more about why the wheel wasn't invented sooner on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. The wheel is such a simple fundamental invention. It seems like it's something that would have been around since
0:53.8	before the rise of civilization. In fact, you might have seen a cartoon at some point that
0:58.1	had a cave man wearing an animal skin who was sitting in a cave chiseling a wheel made
1:02.0	out of stone.
1:03.0	Not only is such a scene absolutely absurd,
1:05.6	but hopefully by the time you're done with this episode,
1:08.0	you'll understand why such a thing couldn't have possibly happened.
1:11.0	To be sure, the wheel is a very ancient invention, but it
1:15.2	doesn't predate recorded history, civilization, or agriculture. Before we get
1:20.2	into the weeds, let's start with a definition of a wheel. A wheel isn't just
1:23.8	something that is a circle. Humans did figure out the circle really early on but
1:27.9	there was more to it than that. A wheel is simply a circular object that is intended to rotate on an axle.
1:35.2	Obviously we have no idea who invented the wheel.
1:38.7	The earliest wheels which appear in the archaeological record show up around the year
1:42.2	4,000 to 3,500 BC in
1:44.8	Samaria and Mesopotamia. That doesn't date the wheel to the Stone Age or
1:48.9	the Paleolithic but rather to the Bronze Age. This dating of the invention of the wheel means that the technical history of humanity
1:55.6	unfolded in a way that most people don't realize. The wheel came after humans had already
	...

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