Mark's Quill

Finding Humor Amidst the Hype and Hypocrisy

In this day and time it's difficult to find the humor in anything. We're being bombarded by the political lies, unjustified accusations of racism, and the relentless assaults on our Liberties and Freedoms from every angle. It's enough to make one's head hurt from shaking it at the pitiful condition our world is in, and realizing that the people entrusted to run things, are in deed making them worse!

That aside, I was reading through Product Design and Development magazine this morning when I came across a lengthy article extolling the virtues of AI (Artificial Intelligence) in consumer appliances. I could not help but to find humor in the choice to include a picture of a toaster oven in this article. What better way to demonstrate the sad reality of what we see throughout our world today, than to span opposite ends of the intelligence and design spectrum with just one picture of one consumer appliance!

Pick a toaster oven, any toaster oven, and let's take a closer look at why such an otherwise unnoteworthy appliance can become the humorous focal point of what's supposed to be a geeky tech article. Let's start with the fact that toaster ovens are one of the best choices to demonstrate the hypocrisy of everything from design engineering to those who push energy conservation, yet lack any understanding of science.

Without boring you to tears by turning this post into a geeky tech article … let's start with the fact that the doors on toaster ovens are uninsulated single-pane glass which allows much of the heat to radiate into the house. Consider also that every single toaster oven door I have seen, is designed in such a manner as to allow the maximum amount of heat loss from the cooking chamber when the door is opened. Go a step further and we find that nearly every toaster oven is controlled by a thermostat located between the cooking chamber and outside case; this only works because there is no insulation between the cooking chamber and exterior case, and that's why the outside of these ovens get hot enough to fry your hide. While all that heat leakage into the home isn't an issue when you're baking Christmas cookies in the North Dakota winter, here in Florida it means your air conditioner must work harder and waste a lot of electricity pumping that heat back out of the house.

The humor comes in choosing a picture of a toaster oven with the most hideously inefficient and wasteful design of any other appliance in an article about AI. I have been, and likely I will continue to be chastised for pointing out hypocrisy, especially when it comes to politics, the media, religion and engineering. Sometimes I just stop and try to contemplate whether people can actually think for themselves anymore! I was “unfriended” on Facebook by people who claim to be “Christians”, and are working in “Christian media”, merely because I pointed out their hypocrisy in claiming the proclamation of truth, while repeating fictional propaganda created by people promoting a sociopolitical agenda. It's the same as being banned from an engineering forum for calling out the nonsensical unscientific claims of one who was only intent on promoting the agenda his sponsor paid him to promote. When one maintains an objective mind, it is easy to see the commonalities amongst the hired media types no matter what genre of media they claim.

So, how about heading into the weekend with a laugh at those who chose one of the worst possible examples of failed human intelligence in consumer appliance design, to promote artificial intelligence in consumer products! LOL