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With technology and nearly everything around us developed in leaps and bounds nowadays, it’s clear that innovation has become one of the driving forces for change in our world. However, not all inventions or innovative solutions have resulted in positive change only, which is why some people would rather that they weren’t invented in the first place.

Members of the ‘Ask Reddit’ community recently discussed what things they would like to “dis-invent” if they had a chance. With answers ranging from cigarettes to social media, netizens provided some interesting perspectives, which you can find on the list below. Scroll down to view their answers and learn what inventions might not have changed our world for the better.

#1

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention Influencers.

satanscough_ , Ivan Samkov / pexels Report

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Sergy Yeltsen
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why can't I upvote this more than once? Influencers are a boil on the a**e end of humanity.

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#2

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention Child Beauty Pageants. They just seem really toxic and creepy.

evilprozac79 , TLC UK Report

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NapQueen
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just let children look like children, and not mini adults!

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#3

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention Pop-up ads.

ChefExcellent13:

The creator of them even apologized for creating them.

AviatorShades_ , Pascale PirateChickan / flickr Report

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Tracy Wallick
Community Member
7 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Can we talk for a second about the 'certified Christian' popup in the corner of the image? How does someone become certified as a Christian? Is there some kind of written or practical test you have to take? Do you get a certificate that you can frame and put on your wall, or is it just one of those little cards you put in your wallet? Is there like, an FDA of Christians that inspects them to make sure they meet standards to be certified before they're released to the public? Are there Christian-certificate forgers?

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#4

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention Mandatory cookies to view websites.

Mandrake_m2 , BBC Report

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Blue Bunny of Happiness
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Or if you can opt out, not making it as simple as “object all” on 95% of websites, often hiding extra cookies under legitimate interest without making it clear you need to object to those too.

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#5

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention Certain dog breeds, like all the brachycephalic (flat-nosed dogs such as frenchies and bull dogs).

tnderosa , Creative Workshop / pexels Report

#6

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention The tipping option when I check out on those computers at the checkout counter.

Euphoric_Wolf7227:

Maybe tips in general. Just pay people for the work they do.

PotatoshavePockets , Furry-atack / reddit Report

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#7

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention Those nearly-blinding, unnecessarily bright car head lamps.

anonicrow , Ali Alcántara Report

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BROmanicus85
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I hate them... with a passion! I get blinded every time, because not only they're unnecessarily bright, but people are jerks as well and do not set them at a lower angle as to not be so disturbing...

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#8

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention Spam calls, robo calls, phishing emails.

Hungry-panda23 , Karolina Grabowska / pexels Report

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#9

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention Coffee Pods - they are disgustingly wasteful.

Anim8nFool , Karsten Seiferlin / flickr Report

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Tabitha
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have two reusable pods that I put much much less expensive loose grounds into. I just switch them out every other day. Pods are expensive and unsustainable, but the reusables are great.

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#10

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention Cars with screens on the dash. Give me back my buttons and dials goddamn it!!

bri_2498 , Jeremy Buckingham / flickr Report

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Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa)
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

For Real! The old buttons were clunky but you could feel them without looking at them!

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#12

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention Planned obsolescence.

Jealous-Network1899:

Here’s my go to planned obsolescence example. My mom bought her first microwave in 1984. It’s traveled to 3 houses and still works perfect. She redid her kitchen and got all new appliances EXCEPT for a microwave. I have lived out of the house for 23 years and have had at least 7 microwaves. They keep cr*pping out and I buy a new one. That is planned obsolescence in a nutshell.

w0rlds , cottonbro studio / pexels Report

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CK
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Killing the environment while being an open scam. And it's everything these days. Want to buy a T-Shirt? The people who made the T-Shirt want you to wear it twice and then have to buy another.

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#13

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention Landmines. Seriously. They f**k up people long after wars are finished.

Redshift_1:

There’s an estimated 800,000 TONS of unexploded ordnance still in Vietnam, that would take hundreds of years to clear out. For context, the bomb dropped in Hiroshima had a yield of about 15,000 tons of TNT.

NaughtyDaisyDelight , HH58 / Wikipedia Report

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Verena
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"If I cannot have that land, nobody will ever." Seen that every m2 of land will be necessary to grow food, as we humans love to multiply for religious reasons, we cannot afford to waste land and water by polluting it.

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#14

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention The medical insurance industry.

Perturabo_Iron_Lord:

The problem with modern insurance is that it’s been completely corrupted with the drive for profit. In a pure form insurance has the potential to be incredibly beneficial to the people who use it, but the profit incentive causes companies to use every trick and loophole in the book to not give out what is owed.

PizzaPastaRigatoni , Pixabay / pexels Report

#15

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention Our two-tiered justice system; One for the wealthy and politically connected, and one for the rest of us.

Daflehrer1 , Sora Shimazaki / pexels Report

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#16

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention That dumb paper sticker that gets put on stuff that is IMPOSSIBLE to remove cleanly.

BlankWallSpace , WikiHow Report

#17

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention Subscription services. Either let me try it for free then buy it full Price or let me rent it and charge me only for the amount of time I used it for.

Of course, it doesn't apply to everything. Subscriptions make sense for something like Apple Music, Xbox Game Pass or Costco, but I don't want to have to pay Adobe 60 dollars a month for Photoshop when I could just rent a license. You don't subscribe to a car, you just rent it for how many days you need it for.

SwiftlyIntrestedFr , Anete Lusina / pexels Report

#18

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention The concept of lobbying.

Phyose , Sora Shimazaki / pexels Report

#19

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention Phones and computers in which you can't easily replace the battery.

MostlySpiders , Fairphone / flickr Report

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Bernd Herbert
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I remember those times. It was dead easy to change the battery, and there's no advantage in today's phones for the customers.

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#20

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention Cigarettes.

SageOfShadows54 , Revival Vape / flickr Report

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Verena
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Smoking is something humans seem to have done since thousands of years, using pipes

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#21

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention Social media. 

DestinyInDanger:

This! It was innocent in the MySpace days. Then Facebook came along and everything after that ruined it. I don't see anything good that has come of it. Nothing but toxicity, hate, division and arguing.

Sarcastic_Fridge , Tracy Le Blanc / pexels Report

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BROmanicus85
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We don't need to dis-invent it... Just stop making it the center of everything! If it loses relevance, then it loses power/influence! It worked for me, and I don't have any social media account for the last 5 years or so!

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#24

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention Nuclear bomb probably. Let's put that back in Pandora's box.

Anonymous_katniss , Federal government of the United States / Wikipedia Report

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Bisha Moten
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The nuclear bomb was the better of two bad options. Had it not been used against Japan to force an end to WW2, the US was fully ready to invade Japan. Conservative estimates of the casualties from such an invasion would be well in excess of 1 million US soldiers, and untold countless Japanese civilians and soldiers. It was enough that the war department commissioned some 2 million purple heart medals, expecting to have to issue them for the one invasion. Those same medals are still being issued today, and no new order for medals has been given since 1945.

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#25

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention Patents for Insulin.

lutz164:

I'd say medicinal patents In general, let the prices fall, and the diabetics rejoice.

ApartmentCapital8880 , Mikhail Nilov / pexels Report

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Libstak
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What patent? The inventors deliberately did not patent it to ensure it could be easily manufactured locally world wide at minimal cost.....pharma brands being the only "licensed" providers in certain countries is the problem here.

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#26

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention The packages they put scissors in… that you need scissor to open. Wtf?

AnxiousTelephone2997 , osseous / flickr Report

#27

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention Household appliances that are tied to subscription services.

TheJH2M , tomemrich / flickr Report

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Charles McChristy
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Then don't buy "smart" devices, lol! Vote with your dollars instead of complaining.

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#28

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention Vapes. Tossed mine in the trash an hour ago, though.

whatataco , Lindsay Fox / flickr Report

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Rayne OfSalt
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah, nah. I've had mine (which required a prescription) for 2 months now, and in that time I have not smoked a single ciggie. Prior to getting it I was smoking up to 30 a day.

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#29

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention The ad-based internet.

mohirl , BoredPanda Report

#30

Corporate personhood.

LordPenvelton Report

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Libstak
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This allows CEOs and executive management to escape accountability...it sucks because it is people making the terrible decisions, not the company itself.

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#32

A lot of inventions mentioned here that have had positive outcomes alongside of negative ones. HOA’s however may look good on paper, but hath wrought no good to this world.

Dreambourne Report

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iBlank
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I owned a condo as my first home. It was against HOA law to install a bath fan that vented outside. So every unit in the whole neighborhood had mold issues. Just incredibly stupid.

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#33

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention Glitter. I seriously consider it to be the worst human invention.

Wayard_1 , cottonbro studio / pexels Report

#34

CAPTCHA. That's not a motorcycle, that's a moped. And I still don't think the rider should count as part of the motorcycle.

themightyfoxtwo Report

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lauren hughes
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I remember getting one that said "crosswalk".... We don't have those in the country I live in (although we have similar). I was baffled, as to whether the road markings, signposts and overhead lights all counted as "crosswalk"

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#35

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention AI.

OftheGates:
 
AI for practical purposes like medicine is great. But generative AI in the way we're mostly seeing it applied has the dual effect of putting us in an information dark age by making anything able to be fabricated, while also ruining industries based on art. Hands down my choice for what needs to be disinvented.

MooPixelArt , Djordje Petrovic / pexels Report

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PattyK
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We haven’t yet found a use for artificial intelligence that improves lives, but certain people have already found ways to use it corruptly.

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#36

Advertising. The primary goal of advertising is to manufacture desire, and the Buddhists are on to something with the claim that desire is the root of all suffering. It’s the enemy of being content and satisfied with your life. It’s an omnipresent lie that’s repeated over and over that says this or that product will finally make you happy when it never will. It’s contributed to the worst parts of consumer capitalism. Cigarettes, the obesity epidemic, and more generally the mass overconsumption that has led to the rapid degradation of our planet.

lonepotatochip Report

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Libstak
Community Member
7 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is in Christianity too with the seven deadly sins being born out of desire....

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#38

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention Plastic.

Kozakyw:

A gift, and a curse.

cyper_1 , Gabriel White / pexels Report

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Dragons Exist
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Plastic is the best invention. Single-use and disposable and non-biodegradable is the problem.

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#39

Agent orange, the chemical not the band.

punsarelazyhumor Report

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Bill Walker
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This one gets me hot. My dad served during Nam and now he has diabetes and neuropathy. The government gives him an extra 200$ in benefits a month. This is total BS!

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#40

The algorithms used by real-estate moguls to buy up new homes the moment they're listed on the market.

NaiveMastermind Report

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Zephyr343
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My sister is looking for a house in Minneapolis. A house they found was listed on a Thursday evening. By the time they submitted their offer on that Sunday morning (3 days later), there were 22 other offers on the table. 5 of them were higher than hers with no contingency on inspection.

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#41

House remodels with materials so cheap they instantly need replacing. 

davemchine Report

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Castles
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When I got a brand new flat when I was 18 only lived in it a few days and the kitchen started falling apart. The washing machine was built into a cupboard and sat on a raised platform. It fell down onto the floor. Kitchen was cheap for being brand new

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#42

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention Everything that Thomas Midgley Jr invented - specifically leaded gasoline and CFCs (the things that destroyed the ozone layer).

He is the person in history who can be directly attributed to the most environmental damage done by the inventions of a single person.

HappiHappiHappi , Skitterphoto / pexels Report

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Bisha Moten
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Leaded gasoline didn't cause as much environmental damage as you might think. At least, specifically, not in relation to the ozone layer, and pollution itself. The issue with leaded gasoline was it released elemental lead into the air which had a marked affect on brain activity and higher crime rates.

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#43

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention Autocorrect. It's like that well-meaning friend who jumps into your conversations with totally off-base corrections. You’re trying to type something heartfelt or important, and it’s over there like, “Did you mean 'duck'? No, Autocorrect, I did not mean to tell my boss I'll have the report done 'ducking soon.

negativediscord , Laura Brunow Miner / flickr Report

#44

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention Micro-transactions and live-service games have completely ruined the videogame industry and I don’t see it ever recovering.

Phoenix6995 , RDNE Stock project / pexels Report

#45

“I Don’t See It Ever Recovering”: 45 People Shame The Single Worst Human Invention 40 hour workweek. F**k that guy.

Grow-away123 , Anna Shvets / pexels Report

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Barbara Cochrane
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Before the 40 hour work week there was the 50 - 60 hour work week. Working Monday through Saturday was the norm.

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Note: this post originally had 59 images. It’s been shortened to the top 45 images based on user votes.