The sponge in the microwave

Omaha just pointed out something very peculiar. I mentioned to her this morning as I cleaned up the kitchen that I had briefly microwaved the sponge to kill all of the germs that collect on it and to kill the way the sponge collects smells. She commented that that seemed an interesting but obvious way to deal with the problem.

In turn, I said that I had read about it in the blogosphere as the aftermath of a publishing disaster. A magazine had printed the technique, only to thereafter receive a lot of email from angry readers who said that the trick had set fire to the sponge. The editors had to print on their website and the next issue that the sponge had to be wet for the technique to work.

I said to Omaha, "Is there anyone out there who doesn't know that microwave radiation is set to the frequency of water and it's the water in food that's actually being heated up when you use a microwave?"

She replied that it was probably not common knowledge and challenged me to look it up in the manual. She was right: nowhere in the microwave's manual is there even the briefest mention of "How microwaving works." For some reason, that seems really irresponsible. Not to mention, prone to error: if you have some clue about how the machine works, you have a better chance of making it work correctly the first time, right?

To the RicRomeroPhone!

Your Score: The Empiricist

You scored 91% Materialism, 69% Objectivity, and 14% Dialectics

You have a tendency to accept "facts" as the ultimate knowledge, which gives you an advantage over many, but leaves you a bit helpless under certain circumstances. That is, you are doubtful about whether Man can truly understand the laws the determine the movement of matter, and you have the habit of looking at things in isolation, rather than in their interconnectedness. Chances are you also view things in terms of rigid catagories--This is X, this is Y, and that is that. Unfortunately, nature doesn't work that way--things move from one catagory to another, and even the catagories change; what is radical is one generation is conservative the next; what is a cause now is an affect later. This leaves you confused on a lot of issues. You still have a big advantage over those who attribute everything to God, or who just think it's all a matter of opinion. Many Empiricsts have performed valuable work in the sciences, collecting data. Their ability to interpret those data often leaves something to be desired.

Picture: David Hume

Link: The Basic Ontology/Epistemology Test written by Gazda on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Editors at play

*Snork* *Chuckle*. I love watching people have too much fun:

Fire whips though bondage parlour

... An MFB spokesman said 18 firefighters "were tied up for some time but disciplined and controlled firefighting contained the blaze to one room on the second floor".

Uh-huh.