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I use science and technology all day and every day, but I don't have the first clue how any of it works. If civilization collapsed in a heap tomorrow, I would be utterly and immediately screwed.
In less than two weeks I will begin my 26th year of teaching. And though one week can wildly diverge from the next in tone and tenor, my workaday life follows the same daily routines as any other. For example:
1) My phone's alarm will wake me up at approximately the same time each day. How the phone works, be it a landline or cellular, I couldn't tell you.
2) I stumble half-conscious into the bathroom, relying on muscle memory to adjust the knobs of the shower to the desired water temperature. Five minutes later, I'm adequately scrubbed. How clean water was able to flow from some underground aquifer to my home where I could then heat it, I haven't the faintest idea.
3) I return to the bedroom and dress, usually in an outfit made of some cotton blend fabric. How those fibers were woven and transformed into clothing I am able to comfortably wear, damned if I know.
4) Now three-quarters awake, I head to the kitchen, where I retrieve frozen fruit from the freezer and milk from the fridge to make my morning smoothie. After drinking that slowly enough to avoid brain freeze (not always successfully), I turn on the coffeemaker and wait. All of these appliances require electricity, which I vaguely realize was generated and transmitted from somewhere. But how never crosses my mind.