What is a more remarkable human achievement?

[Wave]

I think the greatest achievement by any one human being is Shane surviving this long. When he finally kicks off, I hope they autopsy him and figure out what was so special that allowed him to function with that level of alcohol and drug consumption.

They'll probably have a good idea about it after poking around Ian Dury!


Cheers!

[irishwhiskeychaser]

I think the greatest achievement by any one human being is Shane surviving this long. When he finally kicks off, I hope they autopsy him and figure out what was so special that allowed him to function with that level of alcohol and drug consumption.

I presume your using the word 'function' losely

[IainB]

Some once said something along these lines:

I dream that mankind will one day become so advanced that we'll finally find a world where misery and suffering don't exist. Where no one gets sick. Where crime is non existent. Where the have been no wars for more than a thousnd year.

And then we'll attack and conquer that world 'cos that's the last thing they'd expect!

Or maybe we could sell them cheap whisky..

[LeoDLion]

Whatever the rights or wrongs of it are, travelling to the Moon is by far the more remarkable achievement. I would give up whisky for life to do it.

I bet if you get there you'll want a dram or two to celebrate

With the recent revelations that astronauts have imbibed alcohol heavily during training and before launching, I wont be surprise if they smuggle a pint or two of whisky to celebrate in outer space!

[Deactivated Member]

Rereading this thread, I have had this thought: Man has looked at and yearned for the moon for as long as he has walked the earth. The goal was always there; it was just a matter of figuring out how to get there. But how did anyone come up with distillation? It's not as if whisky had always been there, and it only remained to figure out how to achieve it. More than flying to the moon, it was sailing into the void.

[IainB]

I presume it's only a matter of time before someone tries to build a distillery on the moon. Then, truly, man will have reached the dawn of a new technological age.

Of course the water and the wood for casks could be a problem. I'll need to give this more thought!

[les taylor]

It was so simple all you had to do was put water yeast and barley together for a few days. Drain off the fluid and fun it through a huge copper space rocket with a bend at the top. At a very high temperature. Then do it again and in some instances do it again.

Then when that has happened don't drink it. Put it in a wooden oak barrel for several years, the longer the better. And magic you had created whisky. I don't know why it wasn't thought of earlier its so basic. People are doing things like it all the time.

It's like a good quality sausage who would of thought of killing a pig, mincing up all that stuff putting it in a stomach lining, chucking it on the bbq and you have a bit more magic. And how about inventing Dijon mustard to go with it, how did that happen.

My vote goes to the sausage.

[Deactivated Member]

My vote goes to the sausage.

Yeah...now there's a mystery, and one perhaps best left unprobed.

[Deactivated Member]

By the terms of the question - landing on the moon was the more remarkable achievement. It may be expensive and spectacularly pointless, but being able to break free of our gravity to land on this far distant object, survive and return is pretty remarkable.

Distilling is not terribly remarkable. It was discovered independently by many cultures - and few cultures have not perfected narcotic drinks. That doesn't detract from the fact that it is a very welcome achievement.

[LeoDLion]

I think man (and perhaps woman) discovered distillation, making sausage, beer and many others because in the olden times, man does not have a regular job. So, to while away his time and being bored with hunting and talking to friends, he started experimenting here and there.

Take barley. Its not chewable in its natural form. So, man tried to soften it up with water but found it too bland. So man stored in in a lean-to and there it stayed for days rotting away. Oh yeah, rotting away--fermentation at last! Dont know how the yeast got there but of course there is the wind. And then one day, while man is sleeping in the lean-to, he noticed some drops of liquid sticking on the underside of lean-to leaves. Without second thought and not being aware yet of hygience, he started licking the stuff. At first it tasted bitter and weird but being quite thirsty he continued licking. And he felt better and better and at the end of the hour, he has forgotten the drought, the lost pig, and his wife's complaining. He continued going into the lean-to and invited his friends to taste the stuff.

And the rest is history...

[les taylor]

By Jove I think Leo has got it

The sausage? Whose mind dreamed that one up. Who'd have thought of using intestines to hold that delicious stuff together in.

Like Mr T said man could see the moon and would think it would be fun to get there. But the sausage was hidden inside the pig.

[Fergie]

In your opinion, which is the more impressive use of our enlarged primate brains and opposable thumbs?

Nose picking.
OK so chimps can do that too but they can't use their forefinger and thumb to roll it into a wee ball and then flick it in the direction of someone you don't like.
...........................

[Drrich1965]

In your opinion, which is the more impressive use of our enlarged primate brains and opposable thumbs?

Nose picking.
OK so chimps can do that too but they can't use their forefinger and thumb to roll it into a wee ball and then flick it in the direction of someone you don't like.
...........................

You would fit right in at my house

[shoganai]

I presume it's only a matter of time before someone tries to build a distillery on the moon. Then, truly, man will have reached the dawn of a new technological age.

Of course the water and the wood for casks could be a problem. I'll need to give this more thought!

This is the direction I was hoping this thread would go!

[Deactivated Member]

And good on Leo for digging it up.

[Ganga]

I think you can always come back to the basics as the greatest achievements. Two suggestions for the greatest achievements I can think of are the wheel and the lever. How much of your basic life would be altered without these two inventions?

[Deactivated Member]

It's apples and oranges, isn't it? Universal practicality vs singular achievement. One's the base of the mountain, the other is the pinnacle.

[Paul A Jellis]

Anyone can fly to the moon, but, you need a license to distill whisk!

[Deactivated Member]

i like whisky but..

going to the moon, leaving the gravity of the earth, landing on the moon, relaunching and returnong safely in 1969 with a computer about as powerful as a vic20 and a tinpot spaceship

come on!


ash .

[Lawrence]

Actually having 23 replies to the Cointreau VS Grand Marnier thread on a whisky forum.

[Monkey Hanger]

What's wrong with travelling to the moon?

We could all drink moonshine!!!

[IainB]

What's wrong with travelling to the moon?

We could all drink moonshine!!!

Boom boom!!

[Fergie]

Was that a sonic 'boom boom' ???