In the same way that Heidegger asserts that an airplane on the runway cannot be understood as an object, the microwaves in our kitchens cannot be understood as objects either. The microwave, being a piece of modern technology, is forced to be always at the ready for human use, perpetually electrified and only one button press away from warming up food. This aligns with Heidegger’s idea that the distinction that modern technology holds over previous technologies is “standing reserve,” ready to activate at a moment’s notice to accomplish whatever task it is designed to do. This differs from the line of thinking that a microwave is merely an object, which is different from a refrigerator or an oven in various ways. Through the lens of “standing reserve,” we understand a microwave and an oven as the same. Heidegger seems to say that “standing reserve” is unnatural (not exactly bad, just unnatural) and that it is such a modern phenomenon to have such dominion over our materials in excess that we stop viewing them as individual things, but as resources to use at our discretion.
Just another weekly blog