Interesting to see Matthew Crawford’s “Shop Class as Soulcraft” published in Europe as “The Case for Working with your Hands”, and reviewed here in The Irish Times.
It was the working with your hands lyric from Lamb Lies Down on Broadway that came to mind when I reviewed the US edition just about a year ago. (And followed-up on later reading.)
Thanks to Henry for forwarding the link.
Great link (Irish Times). Having been a mature student myself, after working fifteen years in construction as a tradesman, I noticed lots of “lost souls” wandering around campus. Maybe they’d been told by their parents that University is the only way in which you can excel in life? They were clearly not interested in being there. Shame really, maybe it’s an aesthetic thing: working with your hands just somehow denotes lower staus, less taste???
Just realised how random my first comment reads: it was in response to a quote in the Irish Times article…”contrary to orthodoxy, not everybody is suited to university; for those in doubt he suggests learning a trade. He is quick to say we don’t all have to repair motorbikes. An understanding of the good life, the “struggle for individual agency”, can be found in various places…”
Think I’ll buy Crawford’s book today.