[NJSBMWR] Newsletter Fodder

[Henry S. Farber]

Ed,

I agree that “Shop Class as Soulcraft” is a good read.   His main point is that we tend to denigrate skilled manual labor, often in favor of relatively low-level white-collar work.   The result is that we are losing our ability to engage with and repair the devices that we use.  Of course, the nature of the devices have changed in a way that has decreased our ability to work on them (computers on wheels, anyone?).

Here at Princeton, a friend of mine teaches a Freshman Seminar where each year a group of students rebuild a 50s-60s vintage Triumph Tiger Cub.  It is a great course with excess demand from the students.   He has them read two books.  One, not surprisingly, is “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.”   The other is “Shop Class as Soul Craft” (at my suggestion).

— Hank Farber.

P.S.   I am something of a lurker on njsbmwr, but I intend to join for some of the meet-ups (once they happen again).   In some way taking a ride on the cycle is the ultimate social distancing.   I have two bikes (one a BMW).   1) Triumph Tiger 800 Xcx and 2) BMW K75RT.

Everyone stay safe and healthy.

> On Mar 23, 2020, at 12:01 PM, Ed Gerber via NJSBMWR <njsbmwr at casano.com> wrote:
> 
> Don,
> 
> Here's my column
> 
> BTW I'm back in NJ.  Think I should have stayed in Florida
> 
> Ed
> 
> Last year I traded in my R1200rt; every time I rode in the rain a red light  flashed warning me of an impending brake failure, that fortunately never occurred. The source of this fault could not be found   so
> 
> I replaced the Beemer with a Honda. On my first long ride, the Honda stalled and could not be restarted until the computer was "re-booted," that is the battery was momentarily disconnected. The dealer could not
> 
> find the cause of the computer failure.
> 
>     This frustration calls to mind a book worth reading  while waiting out the virus: "Shop Class as Soulcraft" by Mathew B. Crawford, Penguin Books (2009) .  Crawford has a Ph.D. in political philosophy
> 
> from the University of Chicago but owns and operates a motorcycle repair shop.  He bemoans how an engineering culture has evolved which has denied  us access to fix our own possessions; Manufacturers
> 
> hide the works  of the devices we depend on; they are unintelligible to direct inspection. In my case the engine and brake system were accessible only through a layer of computers. Lift the hoods on cars now
> 
> and all you see is a plastic shroud.  the fasteners holding small appliances together now require esoteric, specialized screw drivers "apparently to prevent the curious or angry from interrogating the innards."
> 
> Most of us grew up in a different world, where motorcycles were sold with tool kits and Sears provided blown up parts diagrams and parts lists for the items it sold.
> 
>     Crawford argues this change is reflective of a major change in the the workplace.  Our jobs now are often cut off from the physical world; we value knowledge workers who have no practical skills. Such
> 
> workers lack the deep satisfactions of skill based work that require the use of your hands as well as your mind.  Crawford argues his experiences as a motorcycle mechanic are far more satisfying then his work as
> 
> an academic; he contends that  a career in the manual trades is an honorable one and well worth pursuing.  A good read.
> 
> 
>> 
> 
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