Ah, the power of the apple. It beguiled Snow White, inspired the passions of Johnny Appleseed, helped launch the Twilight Series to instant fame via book cover, and apparently “one a day helps keep the doctor away.” Today (it happens to be Johnny Appleseed Day) is the perfect day to celebrate the far-reaching influence of this brilliant little fruit.
Snow White, Johnny Appleseed, and Twilight (source: WGSN)
Aside from the obvious benefit of tasting great, apples have also had a prominent impact on culture and fashion, especially when it comes to the color red. In many cultures red is a color of the gods; it represents blood, the life force, fire, volcanic lava, the clays of the earth, and the fiercest aspects of nature. It’s no surprise then, given the taboos surrounding life and death, that the shiny red apple has attained such status as a forbidden fruit. There are those who shy away from wearing red too, but if you take the risk, you’re likely to find the style boost worth the effort.
Even the shape of the apple is an undeniable cultural standby. Now that scientist have begun developing the first advanced “sensing interfaces” in robotics, combinations of viewing and gripping or manipulating objects can tell a computer what they are. And one of the first tasks given to our mechanical counterparts was distinguishing an actual apple from a photo of an apple. Although apple-loving cyborgs may still be a thing of the distant future, for now all of us real humans can still use this sweet, tangy, bright and phenomenal fruit to relate to eachother. Thank you, Johnny Appleseed.
