Dear fateful readers:
It was over a century ago, that a man named Thomas Edison had invented the now ubiquitous exponent of heat and light now referred to as the light bulb. This relatively simple looking device uses a miraculous process known as incandescence, in which an electric current passes through a thin filament, heating it and thereby causing it to emit light. The light bulb itself, usually of an incandescent type, can be found in the majority of urban homes, superseding the candle in efficiency and effectiveness. Since the light bulb is so widespread, there have been many jokes and puns made about it, most notably on the issue of changing one. Many of us have already seen these, which generally starts out with the line ‘How many ___ does it take to change a light bulb’? Followed by a derogatory statement designed to mock or provoke certain stereotypes of people. Not only are such jokes childish and redundant, they also strengthen people’s views of those stereotypes and are detrimental to those belonging to such groups. Who knew that when Edison decided to implement his newfound discovery of the light bulb, it would have a profound effect on the stereotypical opinions of others in the future? I would encourage everyone to help subvert and eliminate these unnecessary jokes and puns for the betterment of others in the future, and perhaps someday these stereotypes could be abolished completely.
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