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Comment by crottypeter | Hacker News Reader

No. Toilets are the most important idea.

I am a physicist by education and value the subject highly but let's not take things for granted. Where would we be without toilets? In the middle of a pile of ...

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Speaking of Toilets, I think all European closets can burn in hell.

Please give me back my Indian closet. Why o Why did this abomination of an idea that is the european closet become so popular?

Is it just out of a need to feel "civilized" by sitting instead of squatting, while taking a shit?

hahaha wtf

Do you know why European closets are better?

Well to me, your way of taking a dump seems backwards and barbaric. Does not mean my way of doing is the correct one. I'm not insulting, just saying that there are cultural preferences.

NSFW

https://youtu.be/YbYWhdLO43Q

A billion people are without them right now.

Instead of focusing on the toilet itself (whatever type one might use), I would focus more on overall sanitation systems and clean water. Yes, it is true that a billion people (more actually) do not have access to clean water or safe disposal of human waste. From my standpoint, this honestly is a huge deal -- clean water and proper sanitation would most likely improve health in many areas of the world tremendously.

(In a way, this does tie in with the micro-organism disease theory mentioned by another poster above. When it comes to "most important ideas in human history", in terms of human lives saved, this has to be one of the top ones.)

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