Microwaves

Prongs(n):  A branch; a fork

I have always had a love-hate relationship with microwaves. I hate the fact that when I am going to heat a mug of tea or a plate of food, the dishware gets hot but my food doesn't. I never wondered what made this happen as the microwave was something very common to me. I grew up with microwaves all around me as if they had always existed. Never wondering on how they worked, and why they heat up food as they do. This has risen much controversy, and ignorant people complain about the "useless and inefficient" way microwaves heat our food. This is specially evident in meme webpages such as 9gag or Reddit , i which people criticize different things in our everyday lives. They aren't aware of the science behind it, and rather name microwaves as: "scumbags."

Bee Wilson narrates the circumstances in which the microwave was introduced to modern times. She goes beyond explaining how people acknowledged its introduction, but also how it works. I have always been curious about it, but never payed much attention to looking for the information. Microwaves are waves, that can "only penetrate food by around 4 to 5 cm" (Pg. 103). Nevertheless, microwaves aren't freaky technologies as they "obey the same laws of physics as spit roast." People are left behind in old technologies, and when new ones appear they expect them to be perfectly flawless. They fail to understand that science is an advancing technology, that we still haven't achieved absolute knowledge. The thing is that many people criticize it, but don't even use it correctly. As Wilson says, "the real drawback of the microwave is not with the device itself but with how it is used." (Pg. 107). It makes me laugh at how people don't give it enough credit, but still fail to use it correctly. 

This has lead to the industry of unhealthy fast-food to develop. Precooked, microwave freezes meals govern the refrigerators in supermarket. The act of cooking isn't as valued in everyday lives as it was before. It isn't given as much importance as before, and as Wilson said, "the microwave is not used as a form of cooking, but as a way of avoiding cooking." and has "provided a way to eat without the sociability of sitting around a family table. " (Pg. 110) The microwave consequently has an effect not only on the way we cook, and its importance on everyday life but on how we interact as families and communities as we did before on the dinner table. 

Singeing (v): burn (something) superficially\
 or lightly.