"Ever wonder why Detroit isn't producing 100-mpg cars? One
reason might be that the engineers there spend all their time
tinkering with CAD software-developing design concepts in a purely
virtual sense. They aren't ripping open cars to see what's
possible, the way those amateur ultra-mileage Prius hackers
do."
Nonsense. It isn't because engineers sit behind a computer
instead of spending hand-on time with "real" cars that Detroit
creating high-mileage vehicles. (I'll sidestep the economics of
subsidized oil and and how that affects consumer demand which
drives the supply from Detroit.) I'll also stop myself from
Googling for the "ultra-mileage Prius
hackers" to see if they had to dig deep and dirty into the
computer brain in the Prius (since there is a computer in most cars
these days and an awful lot of computer in a hybrid).
I won't, because this quote (from
March 2008's Wired magazine article "Take Up Thy Tools" - link
at end) is just his example to illustrate his main point:
"When we stop working with our hands, we cease to understand how
the world really works."
Thinking with our hands
I myself have pulled apart several alarm clocks (some even made
it back together in a single functioning piece after) in my
childhood. I read popular mechanics, I made stuff with my hands
(yes, even beyond the obligatory-genius-of-a-toy that is
Lego-aside: is Ikea just Lego for 20-somethings?).
Does working with our hands really accomplish better things?
Some people certainly seemed geared towards concrete, physical
stuff. Others are better at abstract thoughts. You wouldn't tell
Plato to "go build a temple instead of trying to think about the
forms of the gods," would you?
I wouldn't argue that DIY-ers aren't innovating. Certainly that
is a source of innovation, but to suggest it is the only one, is
plain silly. Wired, you're again on
notice. Sigh.
Links