I was reading about the toilet of the future in Wired, and thought of Demolition Man

Sylvester is faced with the "three sea shells" and is made fun of for not knowing what they are.

I'm curious, does anyone have any suggestions as to what each shell does?

Off the top of my head, I would say that one acts like a beday, the second air dries, and the last makes it smell like roses.

The greatest trick the scriptwriter ever pulled was convincing the world that the issue of the three sea shells had any function other than as a cheap laugh.

Psh, you're just saying that because you have no idea what they do!

I thought the question itself was like a running joke throught the entire movie. Like Stallone's character struggling to intergrate himself into a different society that is vastly different from the one he left behind.

LOLOL

I never TRIED to understand it. I just don't get how they can all eat Taco Bell and have sex like that.

We all know the 3 seashells was a running gag, but the question is, how do you think they worked? It's just a speculative question.

[spelling nazi]

bidet

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I've always wondered this myself. I tried to imagine how it could work... they may dispense some sort of lotion to save on paper or I don't know what. Maybe you wipe your ass with one and the other two are for guests... or maybe you shove it up your ass. I have no idea. It has haunted me for years.

I thought they were all used to scrape the doodoo off and so on. yeah, I realize now that's a little off.

Heh - found this on another forum talking about this same thing...

I'll tell you what though, if all I ate was Taco Bell I'd sure as hell need more than 3 seashells to get the job done.

way...too...much...time...

Well shells are shaped like a scoop. So you have 3 things to scoop the crap off your butt. Of course the next person in the bathroom gets a nasty surprise when he finds the 3 shells covered in crap!! Maybe they rinse them in the sink (or a special shell washing unit)? It sure makes the 'wash your hands' rule more important.

Call me old fashion, but I love the fact that we cut down trees for wiping my butt over saving trees and scrapping crap off my butt with sealife.

I think you sit on the toilet and push each button in turn until your ass gets clean, each has a purpose.

I long for a 3 disc SE or something! hehe.

i did a google search on this and saw that one of two ideas has been presented

1 - the flush rinse dry type
2 - the scoop theory. they're supposedly in a sanitizer and each one is shaped differently for, uh, yeah. scoopin'. i just dont think i could handle that. lol.

considering that way back when Discovery channel had that Beyond 2000 show they had a tolet with a water jet and air dryer for cleaning your ass while you sit there I'm sure the shells are just the control buttons for that system

Haha they should do a three disc set and have a sea shell on each disc and the digipack can look like a tray in the bathroom. I would buy it just for the novelty of the case.

You should also add a mockumentary about the invention of the three seashell system.

3 shells.....hmmm.....

Lather, Rinse....Repeat?

One to wipe your ass with and the other 2 to throw at people and make em think ya just wiped your ass with em, thereby freaking them out.

I also will not be able to die without resolving the mystery of the three sea shells.

And this is basically like the toilet featured in the new Wired as referenced by the OP. They have a bidet built in as I recall... It'll be reality before we know it!

You guys don't know how to use the three "sea shells."