Introduction: A Shameful TrinitySex, Bombs and Burgers is all about the three most powerful human instincts: the need to fight, eat and reproduce. Put another way, it's about vice: anger, lust and greed. We've spent millenia trying to rise above these instincts, but we've failed miserably. Instead, multi-billion-dollar industries have arisen to cater to them. That's something many of us are ashamed of, so we tend to think of the military, pornography and fast food/food processing industries negatively. The central thesis of my book, however, is that we shouldn't be so ashamed - these three industries drive technology and they have elevated us in many ways. Without them, we might still be living in caves.
Chapter 1: Weapons of Mass Consumption
Our tale begins in World War Two-era Europe, where several British cities lay in ruins after concentrated German bombing raids. To the rescue comes radar, a new invention that can detect German aircraft before they have a chance to do their damage. The tide of the war turns and the good guys win. After the war, radar begins its transformation into one of the most useful tools ever devised for the household: the microwave oven. Joined by a host of new plastics invented for the war, the microwave revolutionizes living and paves the way for a new era of consumerism.
Chapter 2: Better Eating Through Chemistry
Care-free living can't happen without the most basic need - food - taken care of. A range of new food processing technologies developed to feed soldiers oversees during the war, from dehydration to spray drying, are repurposed for home consumers. The same techniques are used by a wave of new restaurants - fast-food chains - looking to build higher sales volumes. The result, in and out of the home, is food that is plentiful, longer lasting and quick to prepare.
Chapter 3: Arming the Amateurs
The war also changes entertainment technology. Thousands of soldiers are trained in the use of smaller, cheaper and easier-to-use film cameras to document the war effort. After the war, these individuals - armed with this new technology - start making their own movies, decentralizing film production from Hollywood. Some go on to make Oscar-winning movies, others go on to start one of the most popular and lucrative film markets in history: pornography.
Chapter 4: A Game of War
Into the fifties and sixties, some scientists and engineers try to strike it rich by repackaging their war-time inventions as toys and games. This results in ever more complex toys, starting with simple ones like the Slinky and Silly Putty, culminating in video games.
Chapter 5: Food From the Heavens
As the Cold War rages, the United States and Soviet Union invest billions into space technology. The spinoffs are numerous, from better consumer tires to SuperSoaker squirt guns. Nowhere is it more important, though, than in food technology. From faster ovens to irradiated foods to an entirely new quality-control system, space technology revolutionizes how we eat.
Chapter 6: The Naked Eye Goes Electronic
From the humble JPEG to the VCR and camcorders, to digital cameras and Google Earth, the military and porn industries take turns inventing and refining visual technology.
Chapter 7: The Internet - Military Made, Porn Perfected
Following the surprise Soviet launch of Sputnik, the U.S. military forms the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, a body dedicated to ensuring U.S. technological superiority. One of DARPA's big successes is the internet, a network originally designed to preserve communications in the event of a nuclear attack. When the network is made public, the porn industry wastes no time in developing it with streaming video, payment systems and affiliate advertising, all of which is eventually co-opted by mainstream companies such as eBay and Google.
Chapter 8: Seeds of Conflict
Genetically modified foods are controversial, but they may just be the most important weapon in the war against terrorism. With the world's population quickly growing and the amount of available farmland shrinking, tensions are increasing. More food technology may be the only way to keep people fed, and the powder keg from exploding.
Chapter 9: Fully Functional Robots
Robots are going to be the world's next big technology market - Microsoft founder Bill Gates, for one, believes it's going to be as big as the computer business. For now, the military is the fledgling industry's biggest customer. The next big customer - the one that transitions robots from niche to mainstream - will be the sex industry.
Chapter 10: Operation Desert Lab
The Middle East has, perversely, served as a testing range for the United States military for the past 20 years. Everything from night vision to GPS has been developed in the deserts of Iraq and Afghanistan, and there are no signs of this trend abating. Today, universal translation and invisibility are just two of the future technologies being tested there. Their military applications are obvious, but their future consumer uses can only be guessed at.
Conclusion: The Benevolence of Vice
Do we need to be ashamed of our shameful trinity? What is the future of technology? Will sex, bombs and burgers continue to shape our world? Pick up the book and find out!
The image above is Raytheon's exoskeleton, also known as "Iron Man," and it's the opener to Chapter 10. I'll post the rest of the photos in the book this week (hopefully tomorrow).






