by D. P. Johnson

Created on: February 18, 2009   Last Updated: February 21, 2009

Countless ideas have marched through the pages of human history. How could one choose only four? What qualifiers separate the good from the great?

Great ideas are enduring and essential concepts or inventions we couldn't live without. They are foundational - they form the ground and source for all our thinking.

Bearing in mind the question being asked, the idea and the implementation of the idea must be evaluated separately. Great ideas are the result of genius but the implementation of the ideas is often left to people like us. Implementation, as vital as it is, has never been one of humanity's strengths.

The four greatest ideas of history in chronological order:

Democracy gives each individual value and a voice in shaping their world. The democratic ideas started in Athens by Solon (638 BC - 558 BC) assume and assure the worth of the individual. True, Greek democracy restricted the privilege to a small percentage of the population, but the idea, when fully implemented empowers and enriches each individual and society as a whole.

Logic gives the individual tools for thinking clearly about their world. Aristotle (300's BC) discovered the tool that has been helping people examine life and truth for over two millennia. Logic fathered science and is the grandfather of all great scientific discoveries.

A religion of divine-human love gives the individual meaning and an ethic to live by. Jesus of Nazareth (circa 7 BC - 26 AD) taught that religion was not ritual and superstition but rather reciprocal relationships of love (The Gospels of John 16.27 and Matthew 22.36-40). The past 2,000 years demonstrates how many Christians have either ignored or misunderstood the central message of their founder, but the idea still stands.

The printing press gives every individual access to truth and great ideas. Imagine a world without readily available books! The printing press, first developed in Asia and then a few hundred years later in Germany by Guttenberg, fueled the renaissance and the information explosion. Knowledge is now available to the most remote, poverty stricken villager.

Democracy, logic, a religion of love and the printing pressa world without these ideas would be inconceivable. Our lives are richer because of them. In some way most of our other great ideas are indebted to these four. We owe our gratitude to the men who first showed us the possibilities, and we have an obligation to implement these great ideas for the betterment of ourselves and our world.

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