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A comment on Do we need a better understanding of 'progress'?.

Re:Do we need a better understanding of 'progress'? by kazinator on Friday June 17, 2022 @04:08PM (#31783585)
> Imagine after that first nap as a typical American, you had taken a second one in 1940, waking up in the 2020s. Your fridge now has a freezer, and your new microwave lets you reheat your leftovers.

What? Fridges had freezers in the 1940's. Usually as a small compartment, wrapped by the refrigerant evaporator ducts.

https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/housewife-puts-an-ice-c...

Residential microwave ovens rapidly increased in popularity in the USA in the 1970's and were common by the 1980's.

If you woke up in 1950-something, your freezer might have had a timed heating coil in it: a defroster.

If you woke up a bit later, it might have a magnetic door: because children were found to be suffocating in the externally latched fridges that couldn't be opened from the inside.

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Re:Do we need a better understanding of 'progress'? by kokanee on Friday June 17, 2022 @05:19PM (#31784500)
The fun thing about Hacker News is that no matter the topic, there's always someone in the comments who knows more than the author about something they wrote.
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Re:Do we need a better understanding of 'progress'? by hencq on Friday June 17, 2022 @06:21PM (#31785164)
True, but unfortunately for that one person there are usually 10 others who don't actually know more than the author, but are convinced they do.
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Re:Do we need a better understanding of 'progress'? by germinalphrase on Friday June 17, 2022 @07:58PM (#31786009)
See any HN thread on airplanes, education, historical warfare…
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Re:Do we need a better understanding of 'progress'? by kazinator on Friday June 17, 2022 @09:33PM (#31786552)
I don't know more about fridges than a bright fifth grader.
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Re:Do we need a better understanding of 'progress'? by lockesmith on Tuesday June 21, 2022 @12:09PM (#31825592)
Hi, I wrote this article. The thought experiment was about a typical American in 1940 and what they would have in their home, i.e. what would be so common that the median American would have it in that year. This was drawn from Robert Gordon's book.
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