Scientists are usually idealists and understandably focus on the best things that their discoveries could potentially offer, which means they occasionally overlook mankind's capacity for finding undesired, even nefarious, uses for their creations. At Kitty Hawk in 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made four short flights in the world's first powered aircraft. Since then, airplanes have made the world a much smaller place, making it possible for anyone with enough cash and the willingness to sit in a tiny chair for hours to travel halfway around the world in less than a day. But airplanes have a downside, too, a huge downside, and the Wright Brothers came to regret aspects of their epic invention.
According to the Baltimore Sun, the Wright Brothers thought the airplane might allow all nations to gain a tactical advantage in war, which would make everyone essentially equal and war therefore impossible. Orville Wright said in 1915:
"The aeroplane will prevent war by making it too expensive, too slow, too difficult, too long drawn out."
Then, he went and lived through two world wars. By 1948, Orville Wright had completely changed his outlook, saying:
"We dared to hope we had invented something that would bring lasting peace to the earth. But we were wrong. We underestimated man's capacity to hate and to corrupt good means for an evil end."
Imagine being called "the father of the Segway" or "the father of Smell-o-Scope." That would suck, right? Keep watching the video to see the things scientists wish they hadn't discovered!
#BadInventions
A flight of regret | 0:15
Eye for an eye | 1:18
Selfie remorse | 2:38
Nothing to watch | 3:42
Less than ecstatic | 4:41
A blast of conscience | 5:35
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