If you could prevent one thing from being invented, what would it be?

[wxtransit]

Mobile phones.

They have killed society.

and save hundreds of lives every day.  Are the only source of communication with the outside world for billions of poor people around the world.  I could go on and on, but that's more than enough.

great question.   so many possibilities.

What the name of that thing that in a lot of industrial buildings, offices, schools, etc. they have instead of ceilings these cardboard-type tiles that look really gross and depressing and brake down and get moldy? Maybe there's some reason for them to exist, but I'm going to say those things.  Or maybe fluorescent lights which tend to go together with them.

The main reason is "drop ceilings are cheaper to install, demo and maintain than the alternatives" secondarily they give a place to put sh**t that you need to get to without it making the room look messy.  In short, cheapness and ease of maintenance for pipes and wires and such.  If you're not doing maintenance or paying for it, I guess you can bitch about the aesthetics, but the people paying for it and working on it aren't going to listen very long unless you've got something better in mind.

Sameish story with the lights.  Cheaper, by far, than the alternative (at the time), easier on the environment if you care about such things, and much easier on, again, the maintenance team who had to go around replacing bulbs all the time.  Florescents last much longer.

It has to be something that:
a. was harmful to the environment/humans (tons of things)
II. wasn't all that helpful or was only helpful to a tiny minority of assholes (less things)
3. wasn't an important base or start for some other less negative tech that followed it (fewer still)

fission/"nukes" checks some of those boxes, but it's also been really helpful in other ways, some more arguable than others.

the internal combustion engine, but no, way too much good has come from it.  Lots of generally good things one could make arguments for. 

Maybe it's something some asshole in China or India invented 1800 years ago that the royal court was into for a few decades that involved arsenic (mercury, lead, whatever) in the manufacturing process.

well anyway there are safety and health (esp mental) reasons to be concerned about them.

some light Googling only showed some issues for fire departments, nothing about mental health.  You got something else?

Maybe it's something some asshole in China or India invented 1800 years ago that the royal court was into for a few decades that involved arsenic (mercury, lead, whatever) in the manufacturing process.

Like homoeopathy?

I like to hate on woo as much as the next guy, but that's probably a little too vague of an answer here I think.  Though it could very well be some specific form of woo. 

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what did the cotton gin do?

Alrighty.