#thomas thwaites

[steenscp]

The Man Who Lived As A Goat - They Did WHAT?

[thegazingzone]

[fresherbrine]

5/14/2016 NPR: When Being Human Got His Goat, This Designer Became One

[starminesister]

Started this morning: GoatMan: How I Took a Holiday from Being Human by Thomas Thwaites

This book is super-interesting (and funny) so far! Just be warned that amongst the (many) color photos throughout the book, there are some of a goat autopsy (in the chapters entitled "Body" and "Guts", exploring goat physiology). It is a euthanized sick goat (her name was Venus) from a goat sanctuary the author visits earlier in the "Mind" chapter. It didn't bother me since Venus wasn't killed for this purpose, but it might upset some folks (though as an aside, imo if you eat meat then you ought not to have to turn away from the reality of where it comes from-- though Venus herself was not eaten).

[veryslowreader]

The Toaster Project by Thomas Thwaites

The Strain: “White Light”

[espantajerias]

Thomas Thwaites' Toaster.

[gazyrlezon]

So I had this book lying around for some time now, and I've only started reading it a couple of days ago.

And can I just say, this is the maddest, most ridiculous thing (and also possibly the coolest) that I've ever read or heard about (and apparently I'm not alone with that, the guy won an Ig-Nobel Prize for the thing). It's about a man who wants to know what it's like … to be a goat (well, actually an elephant at first, but that quickly gets scrapped after a visit to a modern shaman, who tells him that it's not the right animal for him, as well as practical reasons once he realizes just how damn huge elephants are). He does (try to) go all the way with it, doing things like asking neuroscientist how to switch the language centre of his brain off, or how to stop planning ahead so much. I'm almost halfway through now, and I'm not even close to where he aquires whatever it is that he's wearing on that cover sheet.

So anyways, I'll just go back to reading this, and maybe occasionally post some of the best bits along the way …

(though I'd definitely recommend it for reading yourself, too …)

[empmiemc]

01 (Week two)

It was interesting to see how far Thomas Thwaites went to create his own toaster ‘from scratch’. I admire the effort he went through to get the raw materials. It made me ask the question, “why do all of this when you can just buy a cheap toaster?”. Now I understand a bit about the psychology behind the whole project.

“The contrast in scale between between consumer products we use in the home and the industry that produces them is I think absurd – massive industrial activity devoted to making objects which enable us, the consumer, to toast bread more efficiently. These items betray no trace of their provenance.” (Thwaites, 2016)

So, I think what he is saying is that in a way, it doesn’t make sense that such large processes go into making things that carry out really simple duties such as toasting bread. I don’t think I’ve ever thought about this in such depth. But it’s so true.

“Looking close up, a desire (for toast) and the fulfilment of that desire is totally reasonable. Perhaps the majority of human activity can be reduced to a desire to make life more comfortable for ourselves...” (Thwaites, 2016)  But he says that when you compare it to what could be done and what is being done by the industry on a large scale, the thought of coveting an item like a toaster seems ridiculous. However Thwaites goes on to say, “but at the same time the chain of discoveries and small technological developments that occurred along the way make it entirely reasonable.” (Thwaites, 2016)

I think that’s true. Huge progress can still be made by looking at/discovering the little, unassuming things. It’s all valuable for the knowledge of society today.

Thetoasterproject.org. (2017). The Toaster Project. [online] Available at: http://www.thetoasterproject.org/page2.htm [Accessed 10 Jan. 2017].