If you could make a playlist of writing/books, right now mine would be: + Tailspin + Shop Craft as Soulcraft + Hillbilly Elegy & the comments on culture in this essay on Joe & The Juice (specifically: it’s like working at Lululemon but for bros?)https://www.fastcompany.com/3066489/coffee-sandwich-and-a-side-of-edgy-how-joe-the-juice-aims-to-take-over-the …
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In the concept of How to Read a Book’s “syntopic reading,” the ideas I’m synthesizing across these are about workplaces that provide a sense of meaning and of belonging. Where are the rays of light and of hope in manufacturing work?
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I worked as a machinist’s apprentice through 3 high school summers in a precision optics lab (making sub-wavelength-accurate parabolic optics) and it was this amazing crucible where I really learned what Mens et Manus done right looks like.
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I will never not be grateful for the experience of learning to work an interferometer to validate theory, while helping physicists abuse opamps to get things done, and the smell of way oil.
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(The LabView programming was also helpful negative experience, in that I knew to avoid it forever thereafter, which took active doing, seriously LabView: whyyy)
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From the reviews I've read, a bunch of people would fite you about Hillbilly Elegy. Case in point, Linda Tirado:https://twitter.com/killermartinis/status/946546813917687808?lang=en …
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Specifically I am thinking of the very brief section at the beginning of HE where he discusses the value of work and attitudes toward having/holding good jobs.
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It’s included moderately as a proxy for a conversation I had with an Oregon carpenter I met and spoke to at length who decried generational change in attitudes toward work because he couldn’t find reliable help - this maybe 7-8 years ago or so now.
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I haven’t read HE, and don’t plan to, (and you should definitely talk to
@KillerMartinis about it), but I can talk about the change in attitude toward work, because I’ve spent a lot of time on it, & in general it’s BS. -
Every generation since the start of the industrial revolution thinks the generation coming up behind them is soft & lazy, but the trend in each is that they are more educated ( at least in first world countries), and the world they live in is substantially different than before.
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There are still an unchanging principles and values, but the way we get things done can be vastly different. Before I go further, I want to address the carpenter.
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I’m sure that person was skilled at the craft and had an exceptional standard for their work. I’m also sure that they felt certain pressures, both economic & professional, to deliver their product/service.
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They would undoubtedly have liked to find someone who shared their passion & had the skills to contribute to lighten their burden but the reality of economics likely leaves little room for error so they can’t start with someone unskilled.
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