Of Feasts and Famine

5/02/2007

Technology

Certainly there are problems with the label "mechanically inclined."

This label is seen as flawed more so in its non-constituents A great part of the hands off attitude found in people who easily and ruefully label themselves as "not mechanically inclined," surrounded by any number of broken parts and machines. Perhaps as hypothesized by Robert Pirsig, these people find technology alien and hostile. Instead of seeing the machine as an interrelated system of parts, made of the same underlying metals, they just see the whole machine as a utilitarian appliance, but the underlying principal as completely mystical.

Some of it may be socialization. Certainly most little girls aren't encouraged to work on the car with their father. I would like to think this may be part of my reluctance to simply remove my carbs, clean them and then put them back in the bike.

I make these convincing arguments to myself, however, there is a big difference between my brother and myself. My brother just tested out of his first year of electrician school. He can take something apart and just put it together again. Despite the training I had as a computer technician, I don't have the nerve to rip apart a digital camera.

1 Comments:

  • At 1:05 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Good for people to know.

     

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