Paper
In popular legend, paper was invented in 105 C.E. by Cai Lun, a eunuch in the Chinese court, and over the next 2,000 years it spread ideas and changed the world, thanks largely to Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press. However, according to the American writer Mark Kurlansky, that is all wrong – and not just because paper predates Cai Lun. The notion that inventions create social change is what he calls a “technological fallacy.” In his view, the world changes first and tools stick if they meet its new needs. The same goes for the digital tools of a potentially paperless age.