Scroll to Soul #001: Hello, Who Dis? Unveiling the Lie of American Invention
Why does the United States act like it created everything?
Reader’s Note
This scroll started with a TikTok.
Some dude saying “hello” was invented when the phone was invented. And I paused. Because I’ve heard a lot of American lies, but this one? This one was dressed in Wi-Fi and confidence.
It made me ask the bigger question: Why does the United States act like it created everything? Like the world was sitting in silence until it picked up the phone?
Let’s be clear, “hello” ain’t a spiritual innovation. It’s a greeting. And greetings existed before America existed.
But that’s the trick of empire:
They didn’t invent most things, they just branded it louder. They rename. Repackage. Rewrite. And then tell the rest of the world to say thank you.
This scroll is a gentle drag with global receipts. I’m naming the myth of American originality and reclaiming the brilliance of the world outside the borders. I’ll answer the call. And tell the truth while I’m at it.
1. “Hello” was not invented with the telephone BUT...
The usage of “hello” as a greeting on the phone was popularized around the time the telephone was invented (1876). Before that? Folks were saying things like “good day,” “how do you do,” and even “hail.” Hello was actually around before the phone, but it was more like, “HELLO?? Who goes there?” you know, for yelling across fields or catching someone sneaking into your barn.
It was Thomas Edison (yeah, him again) who pushed “Hello” as the standard telephone greeting, while Alexander Graham Bell preferred “Ahoy.” (Imagine answering calls like a damn pirate. Wild.)
2. Now let’s talk GLOBAL CULTURE.
Hola, bonjour, hallo, ni hao, salve, shalom, as-salamu alaykum—the world was saying “hello” LONG before any American touched a telephone wire. Every language has a version of “hello,” because humans have always needed to greet each other without looking like rude little goblins.
3. The American ego? Chile, it’s systemic.
The U.S. has this unshakable imperial complex. It takes concepts, puts a stamp on it, mass-markets it, and then gaslights the world into thinking it invented sliced bread, water, and time. That TikTok is just one of millions of examples of revisionist history posing as fact.
Did the phone get invented for the whole world?
Technically, yes. Once the tech existed, it spread globally. But people didn’t all start saying hello. They used their own greetings. So no—America didn’t teach the world how to pick up the phone. Countries adapted it in their own language, with their own words.
Bottom line?
America didn’t invent greetings. It invented branding. That’s a big difference.
Let’s break this down into three spicy categories:
American Inventions That Affected the World
Global Inventions That Existed Without the U.S.
Stuff the U.S. Took Credit for That Wasn’t Theirs
1. U.S. Inventions That Actually Impacted the World
Not gonna lie, they did come through on some things:
The Internet – Originally developed as ARPANET by the U.S. Department of Defense. (Now look at us… talking like this!)
The Airplane – The Wright brothers, 1903. Yes, humans were working on flight elsewhere, but theirs flew first.
Assembly Line – Henry Ford didn’t invent cars, but he did create the mass production model that changed manufacturing globally.
GPS – Originally for military use, now it's why nobody asks for directions anymore.
Credit Cards – First widespread system came from the U.S. in the 1950s.
Personal Computers – Apple, IBM, Microsoft... this whole Silicon Valley wave came from American soil.
Jazz, Blues, and Hip-Hop – Cultural exports that became global movements. That’s real U.S. soul, even if capitalism later pimped it out.
2. Non-American Inventions That Changed the World
And now for the real MVPs that America did NOT invent, but loves to benefit from:
Printing Press – Johannes Gutenberg (Germany, 1440). This revolutionized communication way before social media.
Gunpowder – Ancient China said, "Boom, baby!" way before muskets ever hit the scene.
Paper – Invented in China around 105 AD. So, your Constitution? Thank a Chinese innovator.
The Number System (0-9) – Came from India, not Europe. Shook the math world to its core.
Coffee – Ethiopia, then spread through the Arab world. Starbucks is just remixing it.
Democracy (kind of) – Ancient Greece had the idea of people power, albeit limited to a few elite men. Sound familiar?
Chocolate – First used and revered by the Olmecs, Maya, and Aztecs. Not some European patisserie.
Vaccinations – The first inoculation techniques came from Africa and Asia long before Jenner's smallpox vaccine.
3. Things America “Branded” But Didn’t Invent
Because now we’re getting petty (and historically accurate):
Hamburgers – Came from German immigrants. America just added cheese and diabetes.
“American” English – Literally a remix of British English with new spelling and slang.
Rock and Roll – Built on Black musical traditions (blues, gospel, jazz)—but sold as Elvis.
Democracy – Like we said... the Greeks started it. America just wrote better marketing copy.
So, did each country invent for itself or for the world? Both.
Most countries invent for their own needs, but some inventions naturally shift the entire human experience. The U.S. has had major moments, especially during the Industrial and Tech Revolutions but it did NOT birth the wheel, the word “hello,” or basic human decency (that one’s still pending).
America’s real superpower? Propaganda and patents.
The world’s real magic? Ancient wisdom, innovation, and resilience.