A lumpy toaster, a goat exoskeleton, and a harmless car walk into a bar
September 29, 2022 9:49 AM Subscribe
From the Prepared: "For his Master’s thesis project, Thomas Thwaites set out to produce a quotidian object from scratch: a toaster. He deconstructed the cheapest toaster he could find (£3.94) and spent nine months trying to recreate it."
"His quest was driven by the question, “How the hell do some rocks become a toaster?” The final product is a lumpy construction that cost £1187.54 – and also a window into the dizzying complexity that goes into producing simple commodities. ...Spoiler alert: Thwaites does not convince BP to let him ride a helicopter to an offshore oil rig and scoop up a jug of oil!"
Thomas has also tried out life as a goat using an exoskeleton and prosthetic rumen and is currently working on a "harmless car" that will use a generatively-designed willow frame and fat low-pressure dandelion-rubber tires to, for example, not crush snails it rolls over. (Or it's at least a car design process that considers the questions, "Who do I want this to help? Who do I want this to harm?", as the harmless drivetrain is tripping him up a bit still.)
Previously, previouslier.
"His quest was driven by the question, “How the hell do some rocks become a toaster?” The final product is a lumpy construction that cost £1187.54 – and also a window into the dizzying complexity that goes into producing simple commodities. ...Spoiler alert: Thwaites does not convince BP to let him ride a helicopter to an offshore oil rig and scoop up a jug of oil!"
Thomas has also tried out life as a goat using an exoskeleton and prosthetic rumen and is currently working on a "harmless car" that will use a generatively-designed willow frame and fat low-pressure dandelion-rubber tires to, for example, not crush snails it rolls over. (Or it's at least a car design process that considers the questions, "Who do I want this to help? Who do I want this to harm?", as the harmless drivetrain is tripping him up a bit still.)
Previously, previouslier.
I sometimes think about the coming apocalypse and what I have to offer the world, because I'm pretty sure regulatory policy analysis isn't going to be an in demand skill when we all climate change ourselves back to the stone age. And, like, I can make clothes and that might be useful, but I can't make sewing machines, so maybe it won't be?
posted by jacquilynne at 10:13 AM on September 29, 2022 [12 favorites]
posted by jacquilynne at 10:13 AM on September 29, 2022 [12 favorites]
You had me at prosthetic rumen. I have no idea what that is, but I want one.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 11:23 AM on September 29, 2022
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 11:23 AM on September 29, 2022
Reminds me of the windows they sometimes put in cows to their stomach.
posted by aniola at 11:27 AM on September 29, 2022
posted by aniola at 11:27 AM on September 29, 2022
Primitive. All the cool cows run their stomachs on Linux now.
posted by Naberius at 11:29 AM on September 29, 2022 [11 favorites]
posted by Naberius at 11:29 AM on September 29, 2022 [11 favorites]
this is why I MetaFilter
thank you cnidaria
posted by elkevelvet at 11:33 AM on September 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
thank you cnidaria
posted by elkevelvet at 11:33 AM on September 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
A lumpy toaster, a goat exoskeleton, and a harmless car walk into a bar
...and the bartender sez, "You're trying to recreate a joke from this setup??" *half-hearted rimshot*
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:39 AM on September 29, 2022 [4 favorites]
...and the bartender sez, "You're trying to recreate a joke from this setup??" *half-hearted rimshot*
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:39 AM on September 29, 2022 [4 favorites]
He mentions that by not making his own shoes that he used to walk places to get the stuff he wanted, he is technically cheating. This is either nonsense or obvious, depending on your point of view.
One of my "I wish I had the skills and time to research this" project is to see how many people you need to support a given level of technology in a society. It seems obvious that as society gets more and more "advanced" (quotes are deliberate) then you need more people to make the stuff and make the stuff that makes the stuff and make the stuff that transports the stuff and make that stuff that makes the stuff that transports the stuff and so on and if you don't have a population of at least 100 million people then you can't have the internet.
I guess I read too many post-apocalyptic novels when I was a kid.
Anyway, I wonder how many people you need to have a society where creating toasters at that price point is something you can do?
And everything else as well.
(I also have this theory that in order for humanity to survive, the number of people required to "maintain" the society must go down at some point with increased automation and whatnot, because if it keeps going up and up then at some point we'll have 99% of humanity engaged in just keeping society going).
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 12:06 PM on September 29, 2022
One of my "I wish I had the skills and time to research this" project is to see how many people you need to support a given level of technology in a society. It seems obvious that as society gets more and more "advanced" (quotes are deliberate) then you need more people to make the stuff and make the stuff that makes the stuff and make the stuff that transports the stuff and make that stuff that makes the stuff that transports the stuff and so on and if you don't have a population of at least 100 million people then you can't have the internet.
I guess I read too many post-apocalyptic novels when I was a kid.
Anyway, I wonder how many people you need to have a society where creating toasters at that price point is something you can do?
And everything else as well.
(I also have this theory that in order for humanity to survive, the number of people required to "maintain" the society must go down at some point with increased automation and whatnot, because if it keeps going up and up then at some point we'll have 99% of humanity engaged in just keeping society going).
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 12:06 PM on September 29, 2022
I think, It’s Never Lurgi, that you also have to factor in how many of ThingX you/your society need. Making a one-off and replacing every few years/decades/lifetimes is a lot more feasible for a generalist than cranking out a toaster for every tent and replacing it every six months. Although I would enjoy see long that assembly line in a postapocalyptic fiction setting.
posted by janell at 12:40 PM on September 29, 2022
posted by janell at 12:40 PM on September 29, 2022
I like the shout out to the Primitive Technology youtube channel. If you ever want to watch calm videos of some dude in gym shorts silently create huts and fire and woven baskets somewhere in the Australian outback, its a must watch. Turn on captions to read explanations for what he's doing.
posted by AlSweigart at 12:41 PM on September 29, 2022 [12 favorites]
posted by AlSweigart at 12:41 PM on September 29, 2022 [12 favorites]
Reminds me of the windows they sometimes put in cows to their stomach.
I grew up close to fields for a local university that had cows with portholes in them so you could access their stomachs. They were remarkably unaffected by the situation. We used to go over there and shine lights in and look. I guess actual students would open them up and take stuff out or something.
posted by hippybear at 12:44 PM on September 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
I grew up close to fields for a local university that had cows with portholes in them so you could access their stomachs. They were remarkably unaffected by the situation. We used to go over there and shine lights in and look. I guess actual students would open them up and take stuff out or something.
posted by hippybear at 12:44 PM on September 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
I would tip the cow a fiver.
posted by clavdivs at 12:59 PM on September 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by clavdivs at 12:59 PM on September 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Cow tipping was reserved for different herds of cows.
posted by hippybear at 1:07 PM on September 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 1:07 PM on September 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
Farmers should pay more to discourage cow-tipping.
Ba-dum-tish! I’ll be here all night folks! Tip your waters, waitresses and most importantly, Maisie! She’s a Registered Brangus and cuts an amazing figure on the dance floor when she’s not pushing the complimentary dessert cart around! Let’s hear it for Maisie!
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 1:22 PM on September 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
Ba-dum-tish! I’ll be here all night folks! Tip your waters, waitresses and most importantly, Maisie! She’s a Registered Brangus and cuts an amazing figure on the dance floor when she’s not pushing the complimentary dessert cart around! Let’s hear it for Maisie!
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 1:22 PM on September 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
Obligatory citation of I, Pencil [1958] by Leonard Read
"I, Pencil, simple though I appear to be, merit your wonder and awe, a claim I shall attempt to prove. In fact, if you can understand me—no, that’s too much to ask of anyone—if you can become aware of the miraculousness which I symbolize, you can help save the freedom mankind is so unhappily losing. I have a profound lesson to teach. And I can teach this lesson better than can an automobile or an airplane or a mechanical dishwasher because—well, because I am seemingly so simple.
Simple? Yet, not a single person on the face of this earth knows how to make me. This sounds fantastic, doesn’t it? Especially when it is realized that there are about one and one-half billion of my kind produced in the U.S.A. each year. . . . "
posted by BobTheScientist at 1:33 PM on September 29, 2022 [4 favorites]
"I, Pencil, simple though I appear to be, merit your wonder and awe, a claim I shall attempt to prove. In fact, if you can understand me—no, that’s too much to ask of anyone—if you can become aware of the miraculousness which I symbolize, you can help save the freedom mankind is so unhappily losing. I have a profound lesson to teach. And I can teach this lesson better than can an automobile or an airplane or a mechanical dishwasher because—well, because I am seemingly so simple.
Simple? Yet, not a single person on the face of this earth knows how to make me. This sounds fantastic, doesn’t it? Especially when it is realized that there are about one and one-half billion of my kind produced in the U.S.A. each year. . . . "
posted by BobTheScientist at 1:33 PM on September 29, 2022 [4 favorites]
If someone put a window into my stomach, I might walk around seemingly unaffected, but please don't take that as encouragement to do so!
posted by aniola at 1:34 PM on September 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by aniola at 1:34 PM on September 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
One of my "I wish I had the skills and time to research this" project is to see how many people you need to support a given level of technology in a society
Lecture 16 of rethinking statistics covers the exactly the causal links between population, trade, location, and tool count. Like, if your island has no iron, that puts something of a limit on how quickly you proceed, and probably how far.
posted by pwnguin at 1:41 PM on September 29, 2022 [4 favorites]
Lecture 16 of rethinking statistics covers the exactly the causal links between population, trade, location, and tool count. Like, if your island has no iron, that puts something of a limit on how quickly you proceed, and probably how far.
posted by pwnguin at 1:41 PM on September 29, 2022 [4 favorites]
The original stomach window belonged to Alexis St. Martin.
posted by aniola at 1:41 PM on September 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by aniola at 1:41 PM on September 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
MetaFilter: a genuine question and a bit of arrogance, probably.
(This is super cool, thanks for posting it!)
posted by nickmark at 3:45 PM on September 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
(This is super cool, thanks for posting it!)
posted by nickmark at 3:45 PM on September 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
if you can understand me—no, that’s too much to ask of anyone—if you can become aware of the miraculousness which I symbolize, you can help save the freedom mankind is so unhappily losing.
Do you want bears? Because that's how you get bears.
posted by flabdablet at 5:01 PM on September 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
Do you want bears? Because that's how you get bears.
posted by flabdablet at 5:01 PM on September 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
WRT the idea of really starting from scratch--i.e. starting basically naked out in the wilderness and first needing to find, forage, and make whatever he needed just to survive while he was working on his toaster--well, no, it doesn't 100% qualify. However, if someone were trying to recreate civilization, even if there weren't any intact machines, as the article points out, they already have all the iron they would possibly need on the surface. (On the other hand, finding a close-to-the-surface source of petroleum might be tough--the La Brea tar pits, maybe? If you weren't in The Wasteland Formerly Known As Southern California, that might be quite a walk/swim.)
Also, Ryan North wrote How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler, which went over how to recreate some of the best things about civilization, and the order in which to do so, if you somehow ended up in the Stone Age. He did go into using metals, but not how to make a toaster--really, all you need for that is a fire and a stick. (And bread.) A corresponding book for the post-apocalypse would be The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Civilization in the Aftermath of a Cataclysm.
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:12 PM on September 29, 2022 [5 favorites]
Also, Ryan North wrote How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler, which went over how to recreate some of the best things about civilization, and the order in which to do so, if you somehow ended up in the Stone Age. He did go into using metals, but not how to make a toaster--really, all you need for that is a fire and a stick. (And bread.) A corresponding book for the post-apocalypse would be The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Civilization in the Aftermath of a Cataclysm.
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:12 PM on September 29, 2022 [5 favorites]
I am a little concerned that the "civilization" that such authors always seem to prioritize rebuilding generally has so little to do with the actual needs of actual cataclysm survivors. Especially given that all of the cataclysms most likely to occur are consequences of the very technologies we allegedly need to re-establish being used exactly as designed.
Despite what the prepper loons would have us all believe, cataclysms in and of themselves historically bring on relatively high levels of civilization among their human survivors. People want to help each other out when circumstances demonstrate a clear need for doing so. Only once we start getting a bit too comfortable does treating those "lesser" than ourselves become a socially sustainable option.
posted by flabdablet at 6:33 PM on September 29, 2022
Despite what the prepper loons would have us all believe, cataclysms in and of themselves historically bring on relatively high levels of civilization among their human survivors. People want to help each other out when circumstances demonstrate a clear need for doing so. Only once we start getting a bit too comfortable does treating those "lesser" than ourselves become a socially sustainable option.
posted by flabdablet at 6:33 PM on September 29, 2022
Thomas Thwaites published a book of his adventure back in 2011:
The Toaster Project: Or a Heroic Attempt to Build a Simple Electric Appliance from Scratch
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 7:01 PM on September 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
The Toaster Project: Or a Heroic Attempt to Build a Simple Electric Appliance from Scratch
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 7:01 PM on September 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
The original stomach window belonged to Alexis St. Martin.
That might be the wildest Wikipedia article I have ever read.
posted by Literaryhero at 7:48 PM on September 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
That might be the wildest Wikipedia article I have ever read.
posted by Literaryhero at 7:48 PM on September 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
There was a great show a while back called Rough Science (Oh it's all on youtube, neat)
Where they put a bunch of scientists on an island and challenged them to various science problems that required building some degree of infrastructure.
I always wanted to see a longer term show which involved them starting literally from scratch and primitive technology-ing their way up to an electronics lab or something.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 4:11 AM on September 30, 2022
Where they put a bunch of scientists on an island and challenged them to various science problems that required building some degree of infrastructure.
I always wanted to see a longer term show which involved them starting literally from scratch and primitive technology-ing their way up to an electronics lab or something.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 4:11 AM on September 30, 2022
Seems like some of that was explored on Gilligan’s Island.
posted by MtDewd at 5:14 AM on September 30, 2022
posted by MtDewd at 5:14 AM on September 30, 2022
Oh. If it's possible to make a harmless car, I would like some harmless shoes, please; the paths I walk in the morning are often busy with snails of various sizes, and between the camouflage colours and the slow movements, some of them are too well disguised for their own good, poor things.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 5:30 AM on September 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 5:30 AM on September 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
That pencil story is neat propaganda.
It's not wrong, just incredibly reductionist.
posted by jellywerker at 7:22 AM on September 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
It's not wrong, just incredibly reductionist.
posted by jellywerker at 7:22 AM on September 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
Seems like some of that was explored on Gilligan’s Island.
The versatility of coconuts is amazing.
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:50 AM on September 30, 2022
The versatility of coconuts is amazing.
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:50 AM on September 30, 2022
This reminds me of the Planet Money podcast's excellent T-shirt project. (previously). They made their own T-shirts 'from scratch', starting with the cotton. Or, at least, they tried to hire every single entity in the chain from cotton supplier to finished T-shirt, and used the experience to explore and illustrate complexities of the global economy. Great reporting.
posted by hovey at 2:18 PM on September 30, 2022
posted by hovey at 2:18 PM on September 30, 2022
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A similar project from around the same time: Immaculate Telegraphy "was an experiment to build electronic communication from scratch in the wilderness. In summer of 2009, I set out in the mountains of western Montana without any modern tools or materials except information, and constructed a working electric telegraph from materials found on the ground. The experiment showed that electronic communication could have been constructed at any point in history given the right information."
posted by gwint at 10:01 AM on September 29, 2022 [6 favorites]