The toaster

I just read in the Financial Times about a student at the Royal College of Arts in London, Thomas Thwaites, who tried to make his own toaster from scratch. And I mean from scratch. He got his hands on some iron ore from a museum in Wales, and copper from an old mine. For nickel he cheated and melted some commemorative coins. And so on.

The lesson here is of course that even our mundane things around the house are finely tuned pieces of advanced technology. A toaster has more than 400 parts, made from 100 different materials. And importantly for our sense of worth as day-to-day humans: We can’t make one ourselves. We used to all be able to make the stuff we needed, because there was no other choice. Now, if our kids need a glass of milk, let alone an iPod, and the shops are closed, we’re screwed.

Even making a contraption that warms bread is way beyond our ability.

Pause for thought, that’s all.