Things we learned on our own
I thought of this the other night, when, for the first time in 4 years, I attemptted to plow the driveway while drinking a beer (A Pabst can no less). And just so I don't make you wonder: Yes, I did toss the empty into the truck bed when I was done.
So I was thinking, 'how did I learn to plow snow'? I never got a "lesson" but rather just figured out how to do it in the quickest time, with the least amount of damage to buildings, lawns or the truck. I pondered about other things that I have learned to do on my own, and wonder if my boys will be able to do the same. It seems doubtful now since they can't even hang up a coat on a hook.
I, alas, did not have a dad around to teach me some of the basics, but I feel that I have done okay. I did learn alot from my grandfather, mostly to think about what you are doing and to attack the task logically. I learned some building tricks from Nancy's Dad, who, I think if he were still around,we would be doing many projects together.
Over the years I have built many things, done electrical, limited plumbing, refinished floors, etc and like doing these things. So how do we learn these things we are not taught?
A pondering thought for the new year.
Rob
So I was thinking, 'how did I learn to plow snow'? I never got a "lesson" but rather just figured out how to do it in the quickest time, with the least amount of damage to buildings, lawns or the truck. I pondered about other things that I have learned to do on my own, and wonder if my boys will be able to do the same. It seems doubtful now since they can't even hang up a coat on a hook.
I, alas, did not have a dad around to teach me some of the basics, but I feel that I have done okay. I did learn alot from my grandfather, mostly to think about what you are doing and to attack the task logically. I learned some building tricks from Nancy's Dad, who, I think if he were still around,we would be doing many projects together.
Over the years I have built many things, done electrical, limited plumbing, refinished floors, etc and like doing these things. So how do we learn these things we are not taught?
A pondering thought for the new year.
Rob
posted by Rob at
6:58 AM
4 Comments:
This past summer as I did some oil changes and brake repairs on our cars, I was thinking along similar lines. I remember that my Dad rebuilt a car in our garage growing up. I remember helping by "hold this light" and "stop moving, dammit!" but I don't remember doing any of the actual work. Maybe I did and just forgot.
So for me taking on brake jobs for the first time, it was more about knowing that my father did these things and therefore realizing that I, too, could do them.
Another example: I don't ever recall my Dad giving me a lesson on how to shave. Yet somewhere along the line I figured it out and have been doing it for years.
I think that probably most things we "learn" to do we are never given instruction per se but learn through observation and our own trial-and-error.
The other possibility, of course, is that we never remember the actual instruction portion. (For example, maybe the salesperson showed you how to start the snow plow and explained all the controls.) But once something's been explained it all seems so obvious that we never remember the time before we knew how to do something.
By
David, At
January 14, 2009 8:35 AM
We once learned from our fathers, today we learn by Googling. I don't remember being taught to tie my shoelaces or my tie, but I know I must've learned from Dad, because they're the only things I do lefthanded. Because I'm living on the property again, I'm still learning from Dad. I have my own gardens, replaced gutters, fixed screen doors and hinges, repaired holes in the roof, added concrete to the foundation, constructed a mailbox on the street so the mailman would stop bugging me to cut my day lilies - all accomplished with advice (and sometimes a hand) from Dad.
The more pertinent concern about this question is Rob's casual swilling of Pabst, a.k.a. "the blue death." As Dave pointed out in his email, life is too short for cheap lager. You'd get better flavor by just liquifying the aluminum can that's holding the Pabst. Right now in my fridge I'm rotating four sixpacks - two Magic Hats (the Lucky Cat and the Amber Ale), Shipyard Prelude (a Christmas ale) and a Massachusetts microbrew pilsner. I know ales aren't your thing Rob, but are many worthy lagers out there. If you haven't made a resolution yet for 2009, I beseech you, abandon the Pabst and experiment with some pilsners.
By
Doug Norris, At
January 14, 2009 9:17 AM
Great Post - here is my deep thoughts on this. We start learning in two main ways... The trial and error method (the stove is hot) and instruction (addition is communicative). As we get older we begin to accomplish new tasks in a hybrid ways - observation, instruction, trying. As adults we are really forced to take on the trail and error approach because there is no one to do it for us, or we choose not to look to outside help (or we can't afford it.)
Yet even as we "do" and get better at "doing" we usually break the task down into smaller bits that we have been instructed on, or have learned from experience.
Take Rob's plowing experience. He knows how to drive because he was instructed, he knows to not put the plow down in certain areas because through trial and error he's learned that putting the plow down in a certain area rips his lawn up. He knows to tell the kids to stay inside because his mother would have instructed him about the dangers of drunk snow plow drivers.
Lastly, he was instructed by his teachers that it was OK to drink cheap beer because the media is the message, it's not what you drink but how you dispose of the can. Now he is being instructed from his peers as to the right beer to drink which goes to show that you never stop learning.
The best news is that based on this concept, with a little instruction and a willingness to fail multiple times, and the right beverage there is nothing any of us can't do.
By
Tom, At
January 14, 2009 10:56 AM
After knowing Doug for 34+ years, it's interesting to find out about his shoelace tying. I have watched him tie his shoes and always wondered how he was making a knot: He looks like a drunk chimp with no thumbs
By
Rob, At
January 15, 2009 4:17 AM
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