The Further Education of a Gearhead

In this chapter, Crawford takes us through his change from a beginner to a professional. I can relate a lot to Crawford in the way that sitting around being part of a think tank was not something that he enjoyed. I would rather be out doing something than trying to come up with ideas to make "the best arguments money can buy." Crawford also addresses how we all live in a shared world and because of this we must see the whole situation of what we do, as Crawford had to go through the whole problem in order to fix the Honda. This is a quality that makes Crawford good at what he does: his passion as well as his ability to think through the whole problem even if it seems pointless. This also become a reason why when a hobby turns into a profession it can ruin the hobby, because it no longer exists for our own pleasure, but becomes subject to the needs and criticism of others.

The Education of a Gearhead

In this chapter, Crawford discusses how being a good mechanic "offers a counterweight to the culture of narcissism" (102). Ironically, most of the chapter seems like he is sure that his profession and how how much he knows about it causes him to be better than others. While he starts off his chapter telling us that we aren't all meant for the same field, he goes on to rave about why being a mechanic is basically the better profession. That's probably not what he meant to do, but is the impression that I got. However, that could be because he seems to base his thoughts on science on his father's theoretical physicist influence. Not all science deals with theoreticals; some of it deals closely with material reality.

He does make some good points in this chapter as well. The ethical virtue involved to make work great instead of just another "idiot" is something that is definitely true. The more passion you have for what you do, the more likely you are to be careful and thoughtful in your work to do the best job possible. Work is no longer just being someone on an assembly line, but something that is a big part of who you are. This is why it is good to know if you are "careful or commanding" or a number of other personality traits (and why going into something just to please your parents almost always turns out bad).

To Be Master of One's Own Stuff

As I've mentioned a few times already, I am the type of person that loves taking things apart and fixing things. I've always loved creating my own things, too, but creating things takes a lot of time and sometimes a lot of money. While I was home over spring break, I got together with a couple friends from my church back home and we met a refugee who needed curtains. We could have just gone out and bought some at Wal-Mart for less than $20, but instead we went to a fabric store and picked out the fabric to make them ourselves, making the price go to about $50. But there's something to be said about creating something. Picking out fabric, laying it out, pinning it together to make it look just how you want it, and then sewing it to see the final product is just great. It's also time-consuming and requires more money (if it weren't for the fact that I wasn't paying for it, I probably would have ended up at Target or Wal-Mart). So I usually buy things that are cheap and bring them home and fix them to be how I want them to be. Crawford would point out that even customizing is not the same as actually creating, but when I have little money and time it's about as close as I can get right now.

I enjoyed Crawford's example of music, also. Because of my majors, many people are shocked when they find out that I'm still in band (my roommates often forget, even). I think Crawford's explanation of a musicians obedience to the mechanical realities of the instrument has a lot to do with why I can't give it up, even if it often doesn't count as a credit so I don't have to pay for extra hours. I know my instrument. I know what it can do, what it can't do, and the second my fingers touch the keys they feel at home. The real reason, though, is that I just enjoy using my hands and I need that to keep me sane. But I've also never been the type to just sit down and create my own music. I can play whatever you put in front of me but I am terrible at making things up, and that's because while I've mastered my instrument mechanically, I know close to nothing of actual theory. But playing is something that is constant and has "concrete limits" that are "external to the self." It's a structure thing, and one of my biggest worries after I graduate is what to do with no more band.

The final tactic: Give to Caesar what is Caesar's

"Whatever steps we take to live the abundant life that Jesus has made possible, we can't ignore the fact that we live in the midst of political systems that affect us and our neighbors" (pg 188).

In this final chapter, Wilson-Hartgrove reminds us that our money is not really ours, but our government's, and we are really God's. It is often hard to separate ourselves from money, but that becomes necessary if we choose to live a life for God rather than for ourselves. If we begin to look at money as something that doesn't actually belong to us, life would be a lot different. But how can one live a life separated from the ownership of money? The only way really seems to be live in a community. If we separate ourselves from others, money becomes so much more important in our lives as we fight to make enough to survive, and then fight some more to live comfortably, and continue fighting to make more and more. If we live within a community, we have people to back us up when we're behind, and we can focus on things other than making money. When our focus changes, giving money back to whom it belongs seems a little easier. We must live our lives focusing on the fact that we are God's, and money is not ours. It seems that within this final tactic, the rest of them fall into place.

The separation of thinking from doing

I had never really thought about the downside to the assembly line until reading this chapter. The assembly line allowed us to mass produce things, but also took away thought from action. As Americans, we are incredible consumers. We can have pretty much anything we want if we have the money. We never have to wait until crops are in season, or even only get what is available locally. Our goal as a country is to get more stuff to the point that we don't even care if it's coming from sweatshops in Asia. Our need for everything right now has driven us to replacing knowledgeable craftsmen with machine-like humans in assembly lines, to just replacing humans with machines. Thought has been taken out of so many things, which also makes us more likely to throw something away and buy a new one than try and get the old thing fixed. The knowledge that once was required to make something is gone, and one big contributor to why blue-collar jobs are often so looked down upon.

I've always thought it would be great to live in a time where cities were self-sustainable. There were people who were farmers, tailors, blacksmiths, carpenters, etc. and each was an expert in his or her field, gaining them more respect. When you put thinking back into doing, jobs automatically become more important. Crawford even talks about the degradation of white-collar jobs now. I worked in an office at North Park for my first three years here and most days I felt a little bit of myself dying inside because everything I did required very little to no thinking. While I now have a lot of respect for people who do that for a living and their soul remains alive, I hope to never work in an office setting again. As Crawford points out in his closing paragraph, not everyone needs to be working in an office, or even go to college. And even though it was really directed toward people looking to go into college, it made me feel so much more encouraged in my crisis of grad school vs. no grad school next year.

Tactic #4 - Give

If there is one thing that I have learned from my last year at NPU, it is the importance of serving others. It all started last semester when I realized that in my busy life I rarely serve others. Luckily, Christian Spirituality forced me to join a Umin ministry and my life has never been the same. Without trying to become the next umin poster child, I have learned more about God by serving than from my entire life at church. This chapter reiterates a lot of what I have learned this year. As Christians we are called to give, whether it be time or money or a meal. Wilson-Hartgrove even touches on one of the biggest issues living in a big city: should I give money to the homeless man begging on the street when I can't be sure it's not being used for drugs or alcohol? W-H would say invite him over for a meal. While I believe that this is what Jesus would do, I always struggle with whether or not I would put that into practice.

I like when W-H says "...the church needs the poor as much as the poor needs the church." When the church fellowships with poor people, we can learn so much more about the mission of Jesus. We are not asked to give in order to fix the poor, but in order to be children of God. This is actually encouraging, because if we look at giving as a way to fix the poor it becomes so overwhelming and seems impossible. If we look at is as a characteristic of being a child of God, giving seems much less of a lost cause and becomes completely possible. This also gives us no way to throw out excuses for not giving; if we call ourselves "children of God" we must give.

Shop Class as Soulcraft: A Brief Case for the Useful Arts

I come from a blue-collar family, so a lot of what Crawford talks about has always made sense to me. When I wanted a computer, my dad and I went to a few computer expos and bought the parts we needed to build one. I learned what the parts did and how they fit together, and how to bargain for cheaper parts. I was in 5th grade, and as far as I know that computer is still working for someone today. If something went wrong, my dad and I would figure it out and fix it. I now refuse to give my computer away to anyone, other than my dad, to fix. (This is also the biggest reason that I am a PC person through and through even if I'm currently stuck with a Mac.) Now I am able to diagnose most problems on a PC and fix them, and each time I do I feel more accomplished than when I get an A on a paper. Manual labor is something that is always needed and almost always taken for granted by those who haven't experienced it. When you've got money, there's no need to take apart and fix your hairdryer or VCR because you can just go buy a new one, and for things like cars you can just send it in to the mechanic. But I'm the type of person that's always enjoyed building and fixing things: the second anything broke in my house I would be taking it apart to figure out what went wrong. It's also the reason I'm a scientist who loves experiments and despises working in an office.

I also think that if society appreciated manual labor there would be more jobs available and we wouldn't constantly be buying things from China. I could really go on and on but for now I should probably wait and see what Crawford will cover, so I will leave you with my current effort at manual labor: my basil. I am currently growing basil in my apartment and I cannot wait for it to be large enough to use. The process is teaching me patience and also continues to show me how great God's creation is. There is little more exciting than seeing the first little bud poke through the soil. Plants themselves are even great examples of the importance of manual labor often taken for granted, but that would turn into a lecture that would be sure to bore all of you.