Really... That's Enough

I'm all for progress. I like it when we come up with technology that cuts wood easier and makes cars safer. I think medical breakthroughs that cure and prevent disease are fantastic. However, I also feel that there is a point in life where we, as a society, should all step back and say, "That's good. Let's move on." In other words, that particular piece of technology is a very well done and any attempt to improve on it is a waste of time. Instead of trying to modify an already solid product for even more solid results, let us instead point our scientists and engineers in a direction that would have them working on something new to try and come up with a different breakthrough. I feel like the world would be a better place.

I bring this up because I recently got a new toothbrush. Now, I was under the impression that my current toothbrush was fine. It had bristles, held toothpaste and did as good a job as I allowed it to do cleaning my teeth (when it comes to toothbrushes you only get out as much cleaning effort as you put in, you know). Hell, it was even electric, so it could pick up my slack on those morning I only felt like giving the back teeth a few passes. But, my new toothbrush (which is not electric) comes with multiple types of bristles, a tongue cleaner and... wait for it... a specially designed handle for "ergonomic support and increased control". Ok, that's where you lost me. It's a toothbrush, not the pilot's seat in a fighter jet.

Once inventors and dentists passed the point of the electric toothbrush with the different type of bristles, that is when we should have asked them to move onto something else. We should have taken those inventors to other areas, cause after that time they got silly. Tongues scrapers and ergonomic handles are the cupholders of the toothbrush world. Yeah, it's cool to sit in your car and say to your passenger, "This car has 47 cupholders," just like it's fun to notice the new handle on your toothbrush. But, at the same time, cupholders don't help your car's performance. So, just like those car engineers would be better served switching over to working on planes so they won't be taken down by a flock of geese, maybe those toothbrush engineers should work on different medical issues. For example, coming up with a system for transporting vital organs which are intended to be transplants that would be slightly more complex than tossing a heart into a cooler next to the beer. There has to be a better way to do that.