book on value of tradeschools
June 2, 2011 3:16 PM Subscribe
trying to remember title of a book on the true value of trade school education, and the intelligence required for it. Written last year, by a guy who quit higher education to open a motorcycle shop.
Response by poster: Thank you.
But anyone's perspective, addition, on the subject would be welcome.
posted by ebesan at 3:27 PM on June 2, 2011
But anyone's perspective, addition, on the subject would be welcome.
posted by ebesan at 3:27 PM on June 2, 2011
Personally, I enjoyed it all lot but found quite a lot of overlap with Zen and the Art of Motorcycle maintence. The piece I remember most is about the inability to offshore building a back yard deck.
posted by laukf at 3:36 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by laukf at 3:36 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]
Here's a pretty good piece from the New Yorker that discusses the book.
posted by neroli at 3:40 PM on June 2, 2011
posted by neroli at 3:40 PM on June 2, 2011
I really wanted to like it. I got an advance copy, since I worked for a University of Virginia magazine and it was written by a UVA fellow. Conceptually, I wholeheartedly agree with his thesis. But the book is just so sexist that I never finished it. The undercurrent of the whole thing is that real men do real work, and only women and sissy boys do desk work. It's too bad that he framed it like that, because otherwise it would have been much more compelling. I have to admit that I hadn't even picked up on that until, a couple of chapters in, a friend pointed it out to me. Then it was pretty blatant.
posted by waldo at 4:25 PM on June 2, 2011
posted by waldo at 4:25 PM on June 2, 2011
Perspective on the subject: nobody should be looking down on anyone else who is out there working and creating value. It reminds me of an acquaintance of mine who looked down on anyone who doesn't "build things". (Ironically, he built air conditioning systems, so the non-builders could toil in comfort.) I understand the sentiment- there is a certain pride that the builder of a great building might have that one of the office drones in that building might not be able to have.
But life is a process. The builder likely had to dig a lot of ditches and hoof a lot of lumber before they got to the point, and the office drone might be putting in his time until he can get to do what he really has a passion for.
"Zen and the Art" made this point in a way (the review seems to indicate) this book didn't: the point is the effort you put into your task, using your intelligence to improve your performance of your trade. And, if I remember right, "Zen" got around to the realization that one person's trade isn't necessarily someone else's. I think he finally figured out that his "lazy" buddy didn't care about motorcycles because he was a rider, not a mechanic. (Or at least he should have.) "Real men" or "real women" are the ones who have the wisdom to realize that you don't judge someone on *what* they do, but *how* they do it. Or even that judging someone at all is an indulgence of ego, and they are probably better off minding their own business.
posted by gjc at 7:08 AM on June 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
But life is a process. The builder likely had to dig a lot of ditches and hoof a lot of lumber before they got to the point, and the office drone might be putting in his time until he can get to do what he really has a passion for.
"Zen and the Art" made this point in a way (the review seems to indicate) this book didn't: the point is the effort you put into your task, using your intelligence to improve your performance of your trade. And, if I remember right, "Zen" got around to the realization that one person's trade isn't necessarily someone else's. I think he finally figured out that his "lazy" buddy didn't care about motorcycles because he was a rider, not a mechanic. (Or at least he should have.) "Real men" or "real women" are the ones who have the wisdom to realize that you don't judge someone on *what* they do, but *how* they do it. Or even that judging someone at all is an indulgence of ego, and they are probably better off minding their own business.
posted by gjc at 7:08 AM on June 3, 2011 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by laukf at 3:20 PM on June 2, 2011 [1 favorite]