kl7aj
10-04-2007, 09:43 PM
CHAPTER NINE
How to Do Stuff
At some point in time, we migrated from the Industrial Age to the Information Age. What this means is that fewer and fewer people have any meaningful interaction with actual physical objects. We have been virtualized into non-existence.
When you are required to handle physical items, be it a plow, a hammer, a chainsaw, a soldering iron, or a voltmeter, or a microscope, or even wind a watch, you learn a little something about the world around you. You develop a “feel” for things. You achieve a general all-around competence that allows you to figure things out...even things that are well outside your normal field of expertise.
The Information Age has taken most of that away from us. Things that us old geezers had assumed were common competencies are now viewed as dark, ancient mysteries. I have actually met licensed radio amateurs who have never turned an actual knob...everything they own consists of touch pads and computer menus. These are not Luddites or barbarians. They are actually more akin to robots. Very smart but very clueless robots.
A few years ago, I never, in my wildest imagination, would have thought it necessary to write a chapter like “How to Do Stuff.” We just did it. Sure, we broke a few things along the way, but we eventually figured it out.
So, I was faced with two options. The natural one would be to shake my head in disbelief, mutter, “What’s wrong with these whippersnappers?” beneath my floor-length white beard, and retire to my Batcave. Instead, I have chosen to take the high road, grasp the water-buffalo by the horns, and go for it.
If you are one of those whippersnappers who just don’t know how to “do stuff,” someone who’s just never had an opportunity to use a tool, someone who’s never taken a lab course in your entire school “career,” this chapter is for you. No condemnation, no guilt trips. It isn’t your fault in the first place. You have been cheated by the information age. I promise to make it up to you. Are you ready?
Good. Let us begin.
How to Do Stuff
At some point in time, we migrated from the Industrial Age to the Information Age. What this means is that fewer and fewer people have any meaningful interaction with actual physical objects. We have been virtualized into non-existence.
When you are required to handle physical items, be it a plow, a hammer, a chainsaw, a soldering iron, or a voltmeter, or a microscope, or even wind a watch, you learn a little something about the world around you. You develop a “feel” for things. You achieve a general all-around competence that allows you to figure things out...even things that are well outside your normal field of expertise.
The Information Age has taken most of that away from us. Things that us old geezers had assumed were common competencies are now viewed as dark, ancient mysteries. I have actually met licensed radio amateurs who have never turned an actual knob...everything they own consists of touch pads and computer menus. These are not Luddites or barbarians. They are actually more akin to robots. Very smart but very clueless robots.
A few years ago, I never, in my wildest imagination, would have thought it necessary to write a chapter like “How to Do Stuff.” We just did it. Sure, we broke a few things along the way, but we eventually figured it out.
So, I was faced with two options. The natural one would be to shake my head in disbelief, mutter, “What’s wrong with these whippersnappers?” beneath my floor-length white beard, and retire to my Batcave. Instead, I have chosen to take the high road, grasp the water-buffalo by the horns, and go for it.
If you are one of those whippersnappers who just don’t know how to “do stuff,” someone who’s just never had an opportunity to use a tool, someone who’s never taken a lab course in your entire school “career,” this chapter is for you. No condemnation, no guilt trips. It isn’t your fault in the first place. You have been cheated by the information age. I promise to make it up to you. Are you ready?
Good. Let us begin.