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As
scientists and concerned citizens, we applaud the recent trend towards
legislation which requires the prominent placing of warnings on products
that present hazards to the general public. Yet we must also offer the
cautionary thought that such warnings, however well-intentioned, merely
scratch the surface of what is really necessary in this important area.
This is especially true in light of the findings of 20th century physics.
We are therefore proposing that, as responsible scientists, we join
together in an intensive push for new laws that will mandate the
conspicuous placement of suitably informative warnings on the packaging of
every product offered for sale in the United States of America. Our
suggested list of warnings appears below.
WARNING:
This Product Warps Space and Time in Its Vicinity.
WARNING:
This Product Attracts Every Other Piece of Matter in the Universe,
Including the Products of Other Manufacturers, with a Force Proportional
to the Product of the Masses and Inversely Proportional to the Distance
Between Them.
CAUTION:
The Mass of This Product Contains the Energy Equivalent of 85 Million Tons
of TNT per Net Ounce of Weight.
HANDLE
WITH EXTREME CARE: This Product Contains Minute Electrically Charged
Particles Moving at Velocities in Excess of Five Hundred Million Miles Per
Hour.
CONSUMER
NOTICE: Because of the "Uncertainty Principle," It Is Impossible
for the Consumer to Find Out at the Same Time Both Precisely Where This
Product Is and How Fast It Is Moving. (Note: This one is optional on the
grounds that Heisenberg was never quite sure that his principle was
correct)
ADVISORY:
There is an Extremely Small but Nonzero Chance That, Through a Process
Know as "Tunneling," This Product May Spontaneously Disappear
from Its Present Location and Reappear at Any Random Place in the
Universe, Including Your Neighbor's Domicile. The Manufacturer Will Not Be
Responsible for Any Damages or Inconvenience That May Result.
READ
THIS BEFORE OPENING PACKAGE: According to Certain Suggested Versions of
the Grand Unified Theory, the Primary Particles Constituting this Product
May Decay to Nothingness Within the Next Four Hundred Million Years.
THIS
IS A 100% MATTER PRODUCT: In the Unlikely Event That This Merchandise
Should Contact Antimatter in Any Form, a Catastrophic Explosion Will
Result.
PUBLIC
NOTICE AS REQUIRED BY LAW: Any Use of This Product, in Any Manner
Whatsoever, Will Increase the Amount of Disorder in the Universe. Although
No Liability Is Implied Herein, the Consumer Is Warned That This Process
Will Ultimately Lead to the Heat Death of the Universe. NOTE: The Most
Fundamental Particles in This Product Are Held Together by a
"Gluing" Force About Which Little is Currently Known and Whose
Adhesive Power Can Therefore Not Be Permanently Guaranteed.
ATTENTION:
Despite Any Other Listing of Product Contents Found Hereon, the Consumer
is Advised That, in Actuality, This Product Consists Of 99.9999999999%
Empty Space.
NEW
GRAND UNIFIED THEORY DISCLAIMER: The Manufacturer May Technically Be
Entitled to Claim That This Product Is Ten-Dimensional. However, the
Consumer Is Reminded That This Confers No Legal Rights Above and Beyond
Those Applicable to Three-Dimensional Objects, Since the Seven New
Dimensions Are "Rolled Up" into Such a Small "Area"
That They Cannot Be Detected.
PLEASE
NOTE: Some Quantum Physics Theories Suggest That When the Consumer Is Not
Directly Observing This Product, It May Cease to Exist or Will Exist Only
in a Vague and Undetermined State.
COMPONENT
EQUIVALENCY NOTICE: The Subatomic Particles (Electrons, Protons, etc.)
Comprising This Product Are Exactly the Same in Every Measurable Respect
as Those Used in the Products of Other Manufacturers, and No Claim to the
Contrary May Legitimately Be Expressed or Implied.
HEALTH
WARNING: Care Should Be Taken When Lifting This Product, Since Its Mass,
and Thus Its Weight, Is Dependent on Its Velocity Relative to the User.
IMPORTANT
NOTICE TO PURCHASERS: The Entire Physical Universe, Including This
Product, May One Day Collapse Back into an Infinitesimally Small Space.
Should Another Universe Subsequently Re-emerge, the Existence of This
Product in That Universe Cannot Be Guaranteed. (The above is from Volume
36, Number 1 of The Journal of Irreproducible Results. Copyright 1991
Blackwell Scientific Publications Inc.)
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