going back to the example of toasters, do you know off the top of your head who invented them? no? have you used one? probably. you can make the world better, even if you don't know yet.
are we but a blip on the timeline? sure, our names may not be remembered, but that's not the point. AII toasters toast toast, but what happens when there are no longer toasters being produced? will their technology simply become obsolete, with humans moving onto bigger, better things? will toast become a distant memory, written in textbooks of the future as foods us simpler generations ate? who's to say! society is constantly moving, changing, evolving, ideas being built upon, improved upon, theories being proven or disproven.
