What are your top 3 useful/favourite inventions?

The toilet, the oven & the automobile.

Mathematics, Science, Engineering.

Pencil, paper, eraser.

Computer, Jetpack, Condom

Houses, Running water, The Internet

@ragingloli Those aren’t inventions, they’re simply fields of study that have yielded essentially every invention ever created.

Mathematics is a system with specific methods that had to be invented, and numbers, symbols and operators, which had to be invented, as well. As such, Mathematics is an invention.
The same is true for science. It is a system and collection specific methods subject to specific rules (hypothesis, experiment, theory, peer review). I contend that those too had to be invented.
Engineering may be a bit flimsy in that regard, but it too is specific methods of planning, designing and creating something.
That is why I think all three are human inventions.

Beer, refrigeration, and lawn chairs.

Speech, Script, Bicycles.

Pussycats, bicycles, (photo)cameras.

The printing press, the computer and the Internet.

Cuisinart Food Processors
Trains
CD Players

@ragingloli I see where you are coming from, and while I agree that it was human invention that decided and worked out how to use math, science, and engineering, most of those three things were already in nature and simply had to be “labeled”. Addition has always been true whether you use human-invented symbols or not; the processes are simply eternal, ingrained facts and truths about the universe. You can add without knowing what you’re doing, that numbers exist, etc. Math is simply harnessing nature and truth. This is also the case for science. Both math and science are ways of interpreting and learning about existence.

Engineering is different, as it essentially interprets math and science for practical applications. So you could say that engineering is the process of using math and science to invent new things, and this classifies engineering not as an invention but as a process for invention.

Math and Science (the rules and truths of existence) -> Engineering (the process of interpreting and using those rules and truths) -> Invention.

language, toilets, double-glaze windows

LOL! BEER, PUSSYCATS,MATHS!? You guys crack me up!

Knives, sumpaks, and woolen textiles.

The Boiled Egg Cooker. I use to know how to make perfect boiled eggs, but since this little invention now muss no fuss. Love it!
Toilets, I can’t imagine going to an outhouse.
Automobiles

the crapper
cordless power tools
Avtomat Kalashnikov

electronic cigarette
Ipod Touch
portable gps

Not long ago, I might have placed pvr’s (personal video recorders) at the top of the list, but I record dozens of tv shows I never get around to watching, so it’s become practically worthless.

toilets, books, pvr’s. Huh, @SABOTEUR I was typing this while you typed that. I do use mine- can’t stand commercials anymore!

@faye Oh, I was way into ‘em when they first came out. Back when TIVO and Replay were fighting for dominance. Loved that Replay! Skipped through commercials and everything. Accessed the net via Sony WebTV back then…the set-top box that allowed internet access through your tv. It’s how I learned how to navigate a pc, though it would be a few years before I actually purchased one. Guess I just lost interest…

The transistor
The multi-speed bicycle
The internal combustion engine

No one’s mentioned air conditioning? One of my favs

Thanks for the answers guys!
I must say though… the crapper has been an unexpected commoner amongst the answers ;)

Window air conditioners
the PC
the Internet (without which streaming video and digital music downloads would be impossible)
Tied for 3rd: affordable cell phones (don’t know where I’d be without my Tracfone)