Over a million years ago, our ancestors spent an average of 8 hours a day chewing on raw food. “Archaeologists Find Earliest Evidence of Humans Cooking With Fire” by Kenneth Miller, it was recently discovered Homo Erectus was our first ancestor to use fire to cook food. Homo Erectus started cooking after they discovered when food goes through the fire, it tastes better and becomes easier and faster to chew.
Subsequently, Homo Erectus developed smaller jaw, mastication muscles, and smaller teeth which made extra room in the skull for the brain to grow larger. The Jaw-dropping theory of human evolution is suggested by Michael Hopkin’s article, “Did mankind trade chewing power for a bigger brain?” Increased calorie and nutrition intake lead to a massive increase in the size of the human brain and intelligence.
Soon humans went from wood fire to gas stove fire to microwave cooking. When humans spent less time eating and became smarter, they had more time to socialize, communicate and build civilization. In modern life, cooking took a different form especially with the invention of the surface gas stove instead of cooking on fire pits. Every house had a stove for cooking multiple items or dishes at the same time. Cooking was mainly the job of the housewives since men worked and provided.
By the 1970s, most men and women worked and had less time for cooking. In the mid-1970s, the microwave became a very popular house appliance, stated Amanda Davis in her Perspective “A History of the Microwave Oven”. It was an evolutionary appliance for fast cooking and heating. The microwave almost replaced the stove, like the stove replaced cooking by pit fire. The microwave uses electricity generated heat waves which cooks food instantaneously and is able to prepare a prepackaged or homemade meal in 1-5 minutes instead of over 1 hour. It has become an essential cooking device for busy families with both parents working.
I think the microwave helped individuals to achieve independence from each other. A teenager can leave his family to live alone since he can prepare his or her meals in minutes instead of depending on his mother’s cooking. A person can live in a tiny apartment with almost no kitchen and still prepares his meals using just a bowl, a spoon, and a microwave. In the past, a major section of the house had to be a big enough kitchen to contain a big cooking stove and a lot of kitchen utilities. Now there is almost no more need for such space or to spend money to buy such pieces of equipment.
The microwave had an impact on the development of the society and the independence of its individuals. It provided the convenience of preparing food extremely easier and faster which saved more time for people to work, live, and socialize. However, it may have had a slightly negative effect on the society’s structure since too much independence may lead to less bonding and weakening of family ties.
Works Cited Davis, Amanda. “A History of the Microwave Oven.” the institute.ieee.org. IEEE. 2 May 2016. Web. 15 Sep. 2017. Hopkin, Michael. “Jaw-dropping theory of human evolution: Did mankind trade chewing power for a bigger brain?” nature.com. Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature., 25 Mar. 2004. Web. 15 Sep. 2017. Miller, Kenneth. “Archaeologists Find Earliest Evidence of Humans Cooking With Fire.” discovermagazine.com. Kalmbach Publishing CO. 17 Dec. 2013. Web. 15 Sep. 2017.
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