Technology we take for granted

OldFeller

OldFeller

Well-known Member
Location
Pennsylvania, USA
This is my first attempt to make a thread.

I've been a sketch artist my whole life. I love pencils.
Did you ever stop to think what goes into making the pencils we use everyday?

I saw Milton Friedman making the point that we just don't realize what it takes to make this very simple device.

So I'm presenting a video of his summation of what goes into making pencils because it's what inspired me to look for and find an interesting How Its Made video on one way of processing them.

I don't know what Freidman was going on about his whole career and I really don't care.
I just like his pencil example in illustrating economic activity


 

Last edited:
I have a pencil "collection". I noticed when my grandkids were trying to sharpen pencils the pencils would fall apart. We thought it was the old battery sharpener they were using but when we tried older pencils they were fine.
They were using new cheap pencils made in China.
 
Disgustedman said:
I remember when so socialist student tried to convince Ben Shapiro that the person who ran the pencil making facility was greedy.

The student got a short lesson in business.


Sorry for going off tangent, but couldn't resist.
Click to expand...
Ben Shapiro doesn't know anything about business. If a company goes bankrupt, the owner doesn't pay off all the debts. The businesses that are owed money by the bankrupt company get screwed and only get paid pennies on the dollar, but the owner of the bankrupt company doesn't personally lose anything, assuming of course that it's not a sole proprietorship.

Ben Shapiro's secret of success was being born into a wealthy family and having everything handed to him. He was born on third base and acts like he hit a triple.
 
The French government's role in pencil development...

In 1795 during the Napoleonic War the French no longer had access to pure English graphite, so a scientist serving in the army called Nicholas Jacques Conte began to mix finely ground graphite with clay powders. He fired these in a kiln at high temperatures to make them into solid rods. By changing the temperature he could change the hardness of the pencil.
 
More socialism!!!

In the town of Acton, Massachusetts, a pencil mill owner named Ebenezer Wood set out to automate the process at his own pencil mill located at Nashoba Brook. He used the first circular saw in pencil production. He constructed the first of the hexagon- and octagon-shaped wooden casings. Ebenezer did not patent his invention and shared his techniques with anyone. One of those was Eberhard Faber, which built a factory in New York and became the leader in pencil production.
 
This was meant to be a thread about what goes into the making of pencils.

I intentionally picked a short version of Friedman talking about pencils because I wasn't interested in stirring a debate on all the other controversial things he's said.

So if I take off the video where he talks about what goes into the manufacture of pencils, it would uninvite political debate.

And then the people who already responded with ideas that venture away from the manufacturing process of the pencil, they will look like lunatics who just randomly post about socialism.
 
Many of us may have heard of ChatGpt, the latest, and possibly the most significant development in Artificial Intelligence. Ever call a business and a person answers who can direct your call to the correct party? Well ChatGtp can listen to a college level lecture and summarize it in an essay that passes for the product of a very capable student.

If ChatGtp can do that, it shouldn’t have a problem chatting with a caller and transferring them to the correct party — or even become the correct party. How about it operating a pencil manufacturing machine more efficiently than a human? Those days, and much more, are coming and could eliminate countless human jobs. What then?
 
I think the laziest inventor was the creator of the Electric Can Opener.

He was thinking to himself one day while using a hand-held can opener..."This 4 or 5 twists of my thumb and index finger is exhausting and WASTING MY TIME!! There MUST be a better way!!!"
 
OldFeller said:
This was meant to be a thread about what goes into the making of pencils.

I intentionally picked a short version of Friedman talking about pencils because I wasn't interested in stirring a debate on all the other controversial things he's said.

So if I take off the video where he talks about what goes into the manufacture of pencils, it would uninvite political debate.

And then the people who already responded with ideas that venture away from the manufacturing process of the pencil, they will look like lunatics who just randomly post about socialism.
Click to expand...
It could have been worse. Someone might have brought mathematician, Claude Shannon into the debate.
When asked how he resolved his constipation problem, he replied that he worked it out with a pencil.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top