this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2023
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I just went through all the things I think Europe does well or is known for, and I can’t think of anything that doesn’t either originate somewhere else or has been made better elsewhere. With the exceptions of cars(which doomed us and is still debatable euro cars are the best), wine(depending on how you categorize Georgia), and olive oil. Someone correct me if I’m missing something
Edit: does French bread count?
Watches
Pizza
Lots of musical instruments such as piano and violin
Electronic music
Gold, while it's unknown when and where exactly gold started to be mined the oldest artifacts found are from Bulgaria.
Democracy
But you will struggle coming up with examples of others countries as well. There are few countries that invented something and are still the best at. So much stuff was just invented so long ago. The only county where this is somewhat easy is the US with some technology.
Watches is a really big one I missed considering how important the quantification of time is to human history. I didn’t include pizza because like OP said tomatoes ain’t European originally. I’ll take your word on electronic music as I know absolutely nothing about that, gold I don’t know if that counts at all since it’s a mineral. Maybe the best at working it? And yeah the Greeks invented democracy but is anyone in 2023 actually doing democracy well? Or well enough to brag on it, lots of money controlling the wheels of power around the world these days. Not saying you’re wrong I just don’t know if it’s clear cut.
Besides watches/time pieces you’re spot on there
And sorry for the edit I locked my phone and it posted before I finished
Second edit: I’ve had pizza from a bunch of different places and styles and while the best in my opinion is debatable depending on your palette, the absolute worst pizza is in Portugal, specifically at Tarantinos in Porto
Pizza predates tomatoes coming to Italy. There is a 2000 year old fresco that has a pizza in it (without tomato sauce obviously). Tomatoes made it to Italy around 500 years ago.
And there are still pizzas today that use a different base for their sauce than tomatoes. But taste is subjective so it's hard to say if those are "the best".
Damn! Today I learned, thanks for the info
"White pizza" using sour cream as the sauce/base is pretty good.
Just thought I'd point out that I don't think you meant palette, but palate. If you did in fact mean "palette" I apologize for my intrusion.
A lot of things are this way in English, if you haven't read the word in the correct context enough it's hard to write it the right way, and if you haven't heard it in the right context it can be hard to pronounce it right.
No you’re right,a combination of beer and auto correct, I’ll leave it for learning though
Not like it's hard to make such a mistake.
They have Papa John's in Portugal?
Glad I found a fellow Papa John’s hater, not saying any of the major American pizza brands are great but PJs is by far the worst
Damn, Tarantinos catching some shade here.
You just have to trust me, it was really bad, like a five year let loose on a chef boyardee make your own pizza box after being given 3 shots of bourbon
Yes, but we are comparing and I'd say comparatively Europe is definitely doing Democracy the best by far. It's most definitely not Asia or Africa and America isn't doing so well either, considering countries like Venezuela or the States.
How far back does it count? Humans originate from Africa so everything we do can be seen as Africans doing things with stuff from all over the planet. Or perhaps even that is not far enough. What's the origin of the first mammal... The only contestant is change and life is good at mixing things up.
Everything was stolen from the first amoebae in the primordial soup!
Depends on you define best or known for when it comes to cars. Sure a BMW is nice but a Lexus will last twice as long for a fifth the price and is good.
And bread, for invention, depends on whether or not you count leavened and unleavened separately. In terms of best, French bread is definitely S tier though.
Those were definitely my thoughts on cars, although I give Germany some credit for inventing them. And yeah bread is tough since it’s been done all across humanity, the French do it best I think but i dunno if it should count
Well, idk who invented sourdough or garlic bread but both of those should be examined as rivals. Baguette stills rocks heated and buttered though
It’s either an Italian or New York Italian that invented garlic bread. Sourdough I think is Colorado but I have know idea where I heard that. But yeah you ain’t wrong
That may be where it became popular in the USA, but the sourdough method was widespread throughout medieval Europe.
French bread is fine I guess, but nothing beats the Finnish rye bread when you don't want to be hungry again in 5 minutes. Also nothing beats the taste.
The super thin and extra dark slices with butter and juustohöyläjuusto... Yes.
It'll keep you regular if nothing else.
Seafaring and Navel Combat. We smashed it at that for a while.
Ok now do America
Movies, jazz, and airplanes are still tops, even if movies are shit compared to ten years ago Hollywood is still the champ money and cultural impact wise, invention can be co-claimed by the French but the largest early exposition took place in Piedmont Park in Atlanta, Ga. Boeing and Lockheed have yet to be toppled despite both having serious issues recently and there being more competition. Jazz was invented here and while it’s good elsewhere I still thing it’s better along the Mississippi. Still amongst if not the largest exporter of food too.
The US is fucked and shitty but it’s not like we don’t do anything well
Edit: added a k to the end of took
Large scale electrification, nuclear deterrents, continental cargo rail
The first and last are for sure good but I think Japan has it better on the first and Europe on the third but I could be wrong. The middle one for sure but I dunno if we can count that considering we struck first and last in the nuke race
Europe has better passenger rail. America has superior cargo rail. That’s why US passenger rail is inferior, the trains all have to run in cargo company’s tracks. Additionally, due to the ubiquity of power even of a country 26 times the size, I’d say America does it better. Plus, Japan has two grids and thus incompatible appliances between north and south, I do NOT consider that a win!
Steam power Industrialisation Scientific Revolution / Scientific Method
The whole world is interconnected, so it's hard to find anything that is the exclusive domain of one continent. Europeans aren't innately superior to the rest of the world, but they aren't innately inferior either. And even if they were, the idea that something only "counts" if you never interact with and learn from foreigners is a bizarre and arbitrary rule that goes against most of the important innovations throughout human history.
Nikolaus Otto (inventor of the gas engine) was german. Carl Friedrich Benz (Inventor of the car) was german too