How to determine what the ‘worst’ inventions are? This is actually a very subjective point of view, which, however, might be shared by some. I am going to list just five of what may be the worst inventions of humanity and the reasons that I believe them to be so. However, I will not include patently destructive inventions, those that were developed to kill or destroy, such as nuclear weapons, guns or land mines, nor am I obviously including inventions that created problems as a ‘side effect’, even though their aim was a positive one, such as vaccinations and many medical treatments. These in fact have helped greatly to relieve human suffering, but they have also contributed to a dramatic rise in population which is now one of the main reasons for overpopulation and the high levels of pollution we are experiencing. Or electricity, which we overuse is spite of the fact that producing it is highly polluting. As a matter of fact, all the inventions listed here had a positive purpose in the mind of their inventors, and I concede that if wisely used they can be very useful. However, the problems they have created are so devastating that I have decided to include them amongst the worst human inventions. And here is my list:

• The combustion engine and cars.
• Television
• Smartphone
• Concrete
• Nationalism

Why do I believe these inventions are not good? These are the reasons, in order:

• The combustion engine and cars.

The pollution created by the combustion engine may not look particularly dangerous in Western cities, but in many developing countries in the world it is devastating, with hundreds of thousands of casualties every year due to respiratory problems, not to count the high number of asthma cases, particularly among children. The air quality of Kuala Lumpur where I now reside is not one of the worst in Asia, but sometimes it is quite bad, and my son has developed some asthma probably due to that, among other factors… In addition to pollution, overusing cars has contributed to laziness and poor health, as many people use their cars even when they could walk or cycle.

• Television

Unless used wisely and for a limited time, television makes people lazy and brainwashes them, and may affect their vision, too. Admittedly, with the spread of computers, it seems that television has become less popular than in the past. When one is tired, television can be terribly addictive, and some people give up useful, healthy and creative activities for watching TV. And when one wants to sleep and some neighbour is watching television with loud volume, that could be really annoying!

• Smartphones

Smartphones are perhaps one of the biggest businesses, and the most addictive gadget available to people. More and more people do not seem to be able to live without one any longer. When sitting on a train or waiting for a bus or something, people don’t think any longer, don’t chat with nearby people any longer, they just watch the little screen… Even my students are not able to switch their mobile phones off during my classes, and everybody spends a great deal of their time scrolling and watching stuff that is available online and therefore through their smartphones. People nowadays read books less because of smartphones, and this is not good. With a computer, there was a limit to the time one could spend in front of the screen, as one needs to sit down and turn the computer on to access the Internet, but with a smartphone one can get online everywhere, even while walking in the street! In my view this is dangerous and unhealthy, and goes exactly the opposite way to mindfulness and to kindness and compassion for other people.

• Concrete

Like with cars, in the West we mostly see the positive side of having solid buildings to live and work in, even though we are aware of the fact that greenery is slowly being replaced by concrete. However, in poorer countries ugly, ill-built buildings are ubiquitous, and concrete is often not suitable at all in hot countries like Southeast Asia or Africa, or where earthquakes are common. Whereas traditional dwellings made of wood or mud were naturally fresh, with concrete expensive air conditioning is needed, which joins cars, lorries and motorbikes as one of the causes for high levels of pollution in the cities.

• Nationalism

I will finish this short list with a non-material but equally dangerous invention: nationalism. Yes, nationalism is an invention, an ideology, a human construct that aims at creating a uniform independent territorial unit with peculiar characteristics. As a matter of fact, nationalism is not natural at all – most modern nations are an assemblage of former territorial units which had their own peculiar culture, language and traditions. It is sufficient to look at old maps from the 19th century to see how most of the countries that exist today did not exist back then or had different borders. This means that borders are mostly artificial, and the people living on both sides of a border in the past may have been very similar if not identical, speaking the same language and following the same traditions (and in some cases they still do, even though they have a different passport now). Nations have replaced smaller regions, cities and villages as the focus of our identity, and for most people they feel real and they identify with them totally even though they are man-made. No doubt, nation building has positive aspects, especially from the economic point of view, but many negative aspects as well. Believing for example that our nation is somewhat superior to others has led to struggles and wars. Many people are prepared to kill and be killed for their nation. Even the very recent wars in Ukraine and Gaza are at least partly grounded on nationalistic beliefs.

As I explained above, this is just a very personal point of view based on my own thinking and experience. However, I decided to share it as it may be good food for thought.