No one would dispute that the automobile has been a world-changing invention. Economist, lawyer, actor, and writer Ben Stein argues that the car “transforms you from a mortal to a god” in this October 2014 article in American Spectator.
Read it here: Stein, “I love cars—the greatest invention of mankind”
- It is hard to doubt that Stein sincerely and enthusiastically adores his subject: cars. But while it’s certainly true that automobiles have transformed human life and society, not all of Stein’s claims are completely true. Which claims may be overstated? Why? Provide evidence to support your ideas.
- The term “banana republic” is more than just the name of a clothing chain. If you’re not familiar with the original meaning of the term, look it up, and then think about how Stein uses it. What does he mean when he says that cars are the “round, juicy bananas” of banana republic America? Do you agree with his suggestion that the U.S. is a banana republic? Why or why not?
- Stein presents his experiences and anecdotes in a way that suggests that they are universal, shared by everyone. Why might Stein have chosen such a rhetorical strategy? What are the implications of that strategy?
- For Stein, it’s the car. Others may claim that the greatest invention is the printing press, the pencil eraser, or the programmable coffee maker. What do you think? What is the humankind’s greatest invention? Write an essay arguing for your choice, using personal experience, world knowledge, and anecdotes as evidence. You may want to cite Stein as your They Say.
They Say I Blog 
In “I love cars-the greatest invention of mankind,” Ben Stein demonstrates his belief that car is the greatest invention of mankind by using his personal experiences. Although I agree that car is a great invention in human’s history, I believe that it is also one of the inventions that causes major problems in modern society. For example, most cars require gasoline, which is a nonrenewable source; therefore, sometime in the future, people will eventually run out of gasoline, which means that they need to find a different type of energy source. Also, burning gasoline by cars leads to massive production pollutants (VOCs, Nitrogen Oxide, Carbon dioxide, etc.) into the air, which might cause smog, acid rain. and greenhouse effect in the cities. The source says that cars are responsible for about 50 percent to 90 percent in the cities’ air pollution. Also increased in physical inactivity or laziness can be caused by increase use of cars. Currently, like Stein pointed out, people can transport quickly to other places with air conditioning and safety. However, due to these advantages of the cars, people started to become less active toward moving their bodies. Every year, physical inactivity causes millions of citizens to lose their life and major cause of this was from the cars. Cars are supposed to secure and comfort humans’ lives not to harm their health and environment.
LikeLike
I both agree and disagree with Stein. While cars are indeed a great invention with many practical and entertainment based uses. I don’t believe that they are the greatest inventions of mankind, because however vital they might seem to humans, we could live without them. In my opinion, things like medicine or homes and infrastructure are much more vital to human survival than cars. Without cars we would just have to walk or take some other form of transportation like trains or boats. Without medicine, millions would die everyday, and some would not be able to live a happy and normal life, without homes we would not have shelter to keep us safe and protected from the weather, and without infrastructure our world would be chaotic and unsafe. So, no I do not believe that cars are the best invention.
LikeLike
Ben Stein states that cars are the greatest invention of mankind in his article, “I LOVE CARS — The Greatest Invention of Mankind”, emphasizing his love and passion for them. Although I agree they are a great invention, I disagree that they are the greatest invention of mankind. When cars were made, the world greatly benefited from it. People could travel much faster, easier, making transportation a much convenient way. But, I don’t think its the “greatest invention of mankind” because it is not an necessity to humans. Many have been living perfectly fine without cars so calling is the greatest invention is a little redundant. I agree that they have impacted human lifestyles in a positive way and that they are a great invention but it is not the greatest invention of mankind.
LikeLike
While I do agree that the invention of the automobile has given humans lots of opportunities, I believe the invention of cars has had an over all negative impact on the world. First of all, the invention of cars has given people an even more dangerous environment to be distracted in. Nearly 1.3 million people die in road crashes every year. If you think about it, you are climbing into a death trap: a small metal box where you are surrounded by easily breakable glass. You are on the road with hundreds of people who were tested on their driving abilities, by one person, ONCE. Not only is driving dangerous to humans directly, it also damages the environment. Cars are a huge contributing factor to air pollution and global warming. Over all, the invention of automobiles has had a negative impact.
LikeLike
In Cars: “greatest invention of mankind” by Ben Stein
Stein claims that cars are what show who a person is, and I disagree with that claim. Not everyone in the world has the money for their dream car, or the money for a fancy car that describes the person. So the people that cannot afford these cars have to go with a more affordable car, like me, that do not describe the person at all. Stein also states that cars don’t brake unless you take a crow bar to them that is completely wrong too. Everything in a car can break whenever it feels like it. Stein says that cars are the bananas of America. Cars are Americas income. He also states that America is politically unstable and I do agree. America has been politically unstable for the past eight years.
Stein chose a universal strategy because that is the theoretical view of the car. The better it looks, the better the outcome of owning that car. In my opinion the greatest invention by man kind was light. Without light we would not be able to perform half of the things we do.
LikeLike
Some of stein’s claims that may be overstated would be the price of the car being easily affordable costing pennies and less than Starbucks a day. Cars with the technology they have nowadays are very expensive and can be very costly each month. Besides paying for the car alone you have to include the price of car insurance. When stein says that cars are the “round, juicy bananas” of banana republic America stein is trying to say that cars are cherished all around. I agree with this because every adult has or needs a car to get around in today’s world. Stein believes the greatest invention is the automobile but I would disagree and have to say it was the airplane. We wouldn’t have the airplane if we didn’t have the car but the airplane makes traveling so easy and affordable. Air travel allows people to travel the world in a matter of hours, Waking up in one country and going to bed in another. Time travel has allowed business to boom worldwide.
LikeLike
“I love cars-the greatest invention of mankind,” by: Ben Stein, is funny and references some good points, but to claim that cars are the greatest invention of mankind is a bold and a slightly pretentious statement. In what contrast is he comparing it to. The automobile enables mankind the ability to reach great distances in relatively small increments of time, but with it comes the negative variables of the spectrum such as; pollution, fossil fuel consumption, cost, and fatal accidents to name a few. As a means of transportation, I concur, but in the categories of inventions including; technical, medical, and engineering feats, I feel that the automobile falls short of first place.
LikeLike
Most of the responses to Stein’s praise of cars as the greatest invention in world history tend to agree with Stein’s train of thought. However, I would disagree with these claims and state that the car is not the greatest invention of all time, nor is it the greatest ground transportation invention of the past 200 years. The car, while an extremely important and necessary invention, falls short of much older inventions such as the train. There are also people, such as A. Schwarz, who suggest that there were better inventions that went into the creation of the car than the car itself, but even that is a faulty statement. The train had already utilized all of these smaller inventions into one grandiose behemoth of superb travel, the only difference is that a car doesn’t stay on a track. Stein also uses many superficial arguments to discuss the merits of a car, such as how women can appreciate a good car. This does not warrant the “most important invention of all time,” it just warrants a machine that keeps human production steady by showcasing wealth. If anything, the car only contributes to a separation between classes. While I do think the car is a very important invention, I must disagree wholeheartedly on the outlandish claim that it is the most important invention ever.
LikeLike
I would say that cars were most definitely the one thing that defined Americas history. Cars have went from just being two horses pulling a buggy, to the model T, and now to the present day cars like the 2016 Chevrolet Camaro. Cars didn’t get here by themselves they had to be put together by groups of people that all worked together to get the job done. In order to keep the work efficient and evolving they had to have a leader with good ideas like industrialist Henry Ford so that the cars kept getting bigger and better as time went on. Eventually with a lot of hard work cars got to where they are now and hopefully cars will keep getting better as time goes on and if were lucky in the near future we will have self driving cars taking us where ever we need to go.
LikeLike
I totally agree with Ben about cars. Mobility from one place to another has become easier since the invention of cars.
LikeLike
I agree that car is one of the greatest inventions of mankind; still, I do not think that it is the greatest. Rather, the invention of wheel is much more impressive than car. Wheels have more applications than car – which we only use to transport. Furthermore, the use of car and similar means of transport takes part in increasing pollution. It is true that cars bring us to more places that could not be achieved by walking, yet easily get to using airplane. As we expand our territory using cars, we also expand more conflicts. There are many others great inventions that are more helpful to human than cars. Ben Stein claims that “with the car, man was transformed from a worm to a god. With a car, man has superhuman strength. With a car, man can go every day at speeds that would have been incredible even when my grandfather was born.” It clears that Stein does not just love car, he worships and idolizes the invention of car. However, car is not the only inventions that give us the “superhuman strength.” Our ancestors learned how to make and use fire to keep them warm and safe. The invention of paper provides us the way to store and pass down knowledge. The invention of camera helps us capture our memorable moments. The invention of computer opens the completely new world to people. The invention of phone lets people connect to people from far away. The invention of internet gives us quick and easy access to more information than ever. The invention of airplane allows us to travel to places in shorter amount of time. The invention of space rocket is the potential promise that we could explore places beyond Earth. There are too many better inventions to say car is the greatest invention ever. Humankind has many great inventions, and car is just one of them.
LikeLike
In the article, “I LOVE CARS — The Greatest Invention of Mankind,” by Ben Stein, Stein makes an enthusiastic argument as to why cars are the best creation than man had ever produced. However, that statement in and of itself may be an overstatement to the actual likeness of cars. He also over exaggerates the idea of man being completely vulnerable to the environment without the car, and how travel was not fun at all without the car. He even calls the entire car industry the hypothetical Banana Republic of America. For the most part, I would say that cars are really not as great as Stein describes. During the early years of the car, many people were injured. Due to this protests against cars circled about, with several people making their concerns about their safety on the streets. Because of this, car companies opted to make a smear campaign against people hit by cars, calling them “jaywalkers” for getting hit. This campaign worked, as the government began freeing up the streets for cars, and the other people and vehicles that would normally be running up and down the streets were kicked to the side of the street. The effects of the campaign are showing now, because to able to make a living in a state like California now, one needs to own a car. In addition to that, one needs car insurance as well, piling on the costs of just being able to work. Lower income families often have to give up most of their income towards paying their insurance companies and car maintenance bills. Cars have forced their way into society, despite them not being a popular idea in the first place, and many people have no choice but to buy them if they want to earn a living in this country. I personally do not think cars were man’s greatest invention, as they could have possibly had one of the worst effects on modern society.
LikeLike
In the article, Stein is very enthusiastic about his cars and how cars have shaped humanity over the last 120 years. He does, though, continuously overstate that “ With a car, man was transformed from a worm to a god” (Stein). Although I do believe that cars have played a huge role in the development of our societies, they have made many tasks more efficient and safer. I do not believe cars have ascended us to a more devine state in terms of us becoming “god-like”. At the end of the day, a car is a tool that was invented in order to make our daily lives easier; although, over the years cars have evolved more into an accessory to the car community. People soup their cars up and try to modify them to please their own aesthetics; which can feel great, as many believe if you look good, then you’ll feel good. I believe Stein is very passionate about cars, but his claims about them making us so-called “gods” is a little too much for me.
LikeLike