- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
advanced civilization without wheels?????
Posted on 8/31/15 at 1:17 pm
Posted on 8/31/15 at 1:17 pm
In "war of the worlds" and on several threads on here regarding advanced extraterrestrial intelligence, the idea come up that the advanced aliens may not have developed/invented the wheel. Is this even possible? Wheels/circles/orbs area a natural occurrence, think the sun/moon, rounded river stones, bubbles. Also, circles are central to geometry and any interstellar travel would have to contend with very massive objects such as black holes and stars. An advanced civilization would have to navigate and probably use these for acceleration.
So, could an advanced civilization really exist without the concept of the wheel?
So, could an advanced civilization really exist without the concept of the wheel?
10
Posted on 8/31/15 at 1:18 pm to white perch
Densely populated waterfront people. Without the wheel, the next obvious conveyance for goods would be water.
This post was edited on 8/31/15 at 1:22 pm
Posted on 8/31/15 at 1:18 pm to white perch
no probably not, but that should be one of our first questions when we make contact, so I've bookmarked this thread
Posted on 8/31/15 at 1:22 pm to white perch
Posted on 8/31/15 at 1:26 pm to white perch
Advanced American native cultures like Incas or Mayans (I forget which) didn't use the wheel. They "invented" it, but it was only used for children's toys, not for travel or work. So...it has happened before.
Posted on 8/31/15 at 1:49 pm to Sasquatch Smash
quote:
Advanced American native cultures like Incas or Mayans (I forget which) didn't use the wheel. They "invented" it, but it was only used for children's toys, not for travel or work. So...it has happened before.
but they're not trying to navigate interstellar space...
Posted on 8/31/15 at 1:56 pm to white perch
quote:
So, could an advanced civilization really exist without the concept of the wheel?
what if they live on a gas planet or a water world?
Posted on 8/31/15 at 2:08 pm to white perch
I always find it odd that people say a certain civilization didn't have the wheel but they likely achieved amazing architectural feats by using rollers (logs) to move large stone. Isn't a roller just a really long wheel that isn't fixed to the object that's being moved? 
Posted on 8/31/15 at 2:10 pm to junkfunky
quote:
I always find it odd that people say a certain civilization didn't have the wheel but they likely achieved amazing architectural feats by using rollers (logs) to move large stone. Isn't a roller just a really long wheel that isn't fixed to the object that's being moved?
Isn't a spear just a pointy stick? Come on man, there are subtle differences that I don't care to elaborate on that separates a wheel from a cylinder laying on the ground. Namely $150x4 every 50,000 miles.
Posted on 8/31/15 at 2:13 pm to TigerintheNO
quote:
what if they live on a gas planet or a water world?
even if they didn't need a "wheel" for locomotion, the concept of a wheel or circle had to have come out with their development of math.
Posted on 8/31/15 at 2:25 pm to white perch
quote:
even if they didn't need a "wheel" for locomotion, the concept of a wheel or circle had to have come out with their development of math.
Does the same math that applies to being confined by 3 dimension still apply to those in the nth? Probably not.
Posted on 8/31/15 at 2:30 pm to white perch
Imagine a purely biological race. One whose technology is organic and alive rather than built.
That would probably have no need for the wheel.
Either that or one who involved into it, surpassing any need for the wheel.
That would probably have no need for the wheel.
Either that or one who involved into it, surpassing any need for the wheel.
This post was edited on 8/31/15 at 2:31 pm
Posted on 8/31/15 at 2:31 pm to Clyde Tipton
Posted on 8/31/15 at 2:32 pm to TheAlmightySmash
quote:
Does the same math that applies to being confined by 3 dimension still apply to those in the nth? Probably not.
No matter what dimensions they are from or travel through, they'll have to end up in our dimension (in this senario of alien contact). In the physics of our dimension, circles are fundamental. I'm not sure it's possible to not have an understanding of them if you are an advanced species. Mayans might not have had wheels. They also lost once people with wheels encountered them.
Posted on 8/31/15 at 2:34 pm to white perch
The Incas had a written language, complex architecture, running water, and a continental road system, without inventing the wheel.
Posted on 8/31/15 at 2:37 pm to white perch
quote:
No matter what dimensions they are from or travel through, they'll have to end up in our dimension
Interstellar had a pretty cool plot that involved this. ET's used the 4th dimension to communicate with humans. If you're talking about a big green alien standing next to you then I don't know. too many maybes to even have a rational opinion
ETA- 100% don't need the wheel. maybe advanced so quickly they skipped it?
This post was edited on 8/31/15 at 2:39 pm
Posted on 8/31/15 at 2:38 pm to Jim Rockford
I mean a civilization that is more advanced than us now.
Also, the incas/Mayans may have eventually invented a wheel. But they were wiped out by a civilization that already had.
Also, the incas/Mayans may have eventually invented a wheel. But they were wiped out by a civilization that already had.
Posted on 8/31/15 at 2:38 pm to white perch
Posted on 8/31/15 at 2:39 pm to ksayetiger
what if inventing the wheel is THE great filter?
Posted on 8/31/15 at 2:41 pm to white perch
Yes in WotW they aliens do not understand the concept of the wheel. In the 2005 movie there is a scene that pays homage to that when the aliens come into the house's basement and see a 10spd bike and touch its front wheel in bemusement.
The complexity of graceful fluid movement of joints and axles without wheels would be a technological advancement we havent yet overcome.
The complexity of graceful fluid movement of joints and axles without wheels would be a technological advancement we havent yet overcome.
Page 1 of 2
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News