The The­ory of Un-​​natural Selection

Posted on: June 6, 2008

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Snaps, But­tons and Diguette’s The­ory of Un-​​​​Natural Selection

by R. Diguette

HMS Beagle, by Conrad Martens

Paint­ing: The HMS Bea­gle, by Con­rad Martens.

Every time I put on a pair of sum­mer shorts I find myself won­der­ing about the lowly metal snap.  It seems to be going the way of the Nean­derthal, slowly but surely dying out of exis­tence, per­haps even­tu­ally one day to be re-​​​​discovered as just another unfor­tu­nate vic­tim of the march of time.  In its place we have the plas­tic but­ton.  But why is this hap­pen­ing?  In what way is the plas­tic but­ton supe­rior to, or bet­ter adapted to sur­vive than, the metal snap?

Con­sider this.  Metal snaps sel­dom if ever fall off.  The same most assuredly can­not be said for plas­tic but­tons.  For instance, when was the last time a gar­ment of yours came back from the dry clean­ers miss­ing a snap?  Never?  But when was the…

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