Theory comes Alive

In college, I participated in a Ulysses book-club. Some of the participants were frustrated with the obtuseness of the book and we had a debate whether popular, accessible classics had mroe value and were more worthwhile than more esoteric works because they have a greater audience and more of an impact. Beyond the intrinsic artistic of a novel like Uylsses, I think its social value is easy to determine. It only has to influence one person to be worthwhile, especially if that person is inspired to go on create a popular classic.

I'm a sucker for these types of books. I am also a sucker for esoteric types of science and theory that seem to have no real value while their being developed or are first enunciated but prove to be extremely valuable as they led to great breakthroughs. On Wired, theory comes to life again with the creation of the "memristor," a new type of circuit that could significantly improve and enhance the computer of the future. While we may be approaching the limits of Moore's Law, researchers seem to be finding new ways to hack the concept of the computer of possibly provide other directions to keep the innovation moving forward. As Peter Thiel puts it, we have to hit the accelerator really hard (more on Thiel later, link via Instapundit).

A Practical Crisis

Ham Radio. Computing. Woodcraft. Homemade Electronics. Photography. Model Trains. Model Ship Building. This is a list of the many hobbies in which my grandfather immersed himself. Not only did he have many hobbies, but he was accomplished at quite of few. He knew how to work with his hands and how to build things. When my dad was young, he built his own speakers. My uncle is serious model plane maker.

I've always admired my grandfather's enthusiasm for these hobbies. However, I never picked up on his ability to work with his hands. I am a poor craftsman and have less of a knowledge of the tech I use than I'd like. I am also concerned that my children may find themselves even farther removed from the hands-on. This is a serious problem.

In Wired, Clive Thompson crystallizes this issue in this article about the loss of hands-on skills. According to Thompson, this skill gap is resulting in a paucity of innovation. Instead of creating a technical work-around to improve gas mileage, we use a theoretical approach. He also relates this problem to the lack of concern about our crumbling infrastructure. If we had a better understanding of how the world works - how bridges and roads can decay - we might be more worried about it (Related post here).

However, he also writes about a nascent movement to return to our technical roots. He points to Make magazine as an example. I would also point to the popularity of the Lego Mindstorms as another example. The Mindstorms is an awesome toy, helping to teach both mechanical and programming skills (which we also lack link).

As I posted before, I've started to try to do my part to address this. However, I am somewhat hampered in my ability to teach my sons how to get hands-on because my skills are so underdeveloped. We are learning together.

The Year of Living Dangerously

One trend I've noticed recently is a cultural blowback against over-protecting our children. The Dangerous Book for Boys is at the forefront of this trend, but something else along these lines that really piqued my interest was a TED talk given by Gever Tully (Note: there are hundreds of video TED talks available through iTunes and many of them are fascinating. They are short, snappy, and powerful. The TED Web site is here). Tully has founded the "Tinkering School." The concept of the school is to allow children to mess around things that they are underexposed to because many parents that think they are dangerous, including knives, fire, and technology.

A TED talk in which J.J. Abrams mentions the impact his grandfather had on him, particularly in the way his grandfather allowed to mess with technology reinforced my conviction that I had to act on Tully's advice.

Well, today I got out an old HP computer and let my sons help me take it apart and the result was smashing. They were fascinated and my oldest son took a real sense of pride in the whole endeavor. Hopefully, it is a first step toward a relationship to technology that my family has a rich history in but I have not carried on quite to the level of my grandfather, who is a lifetime tinkerer.

There are so many reports about America falling behind in science and technology and the lack of hands-on experience may be a major part of it. So, if you have some old lying around pcs, don't recycle, destroy.

(Of course, we can only hope that maybe the LEGO Mindstorm will inspire a new generation of innovators).