[ExI] What's in a transhumanist name? (was: YES! to Transhumanism)

[Emlyn]

2009/1/7 Emlyn <emlynoregan at gmail.com>:
> 2009/1/7 BillK <pharos at gmail.com>:
>> On Tue, Jan 6, 2009 at 9:29 PM, Bryan Bishop  wrote:
>> <snip>
>>> Whatever happened to the hobbyist machinist, anyway?
>>>
>> They died out between your grandad's generation and your dad's
>> generation. After car engines became too complex to strip down and
>> rebuild in a weekend. When things became 'black boxes' with no
>> serviceable parts inside. 'Tinkerers' have nearly died out.
>>
>> Think now. When your toaster breaks down what do you do?
>> You either,
>> 1)  throw it away and buy another,  or,
>> 2) take it round to grandad, who disappears into his shed for an hour
>> or two, then returns it to you, working perfectly and shining so you
>> can see your face in it.
>>
>> But grandad won't be around much longer.
>>
>>
>> BillK
>
> I work with one of those grandads. Ex tv repairman. Finds burnt out
> components on circuit boards by smell (seriously). Personally I can
> barely find where the oil goes in my car, so those kinds of skills
> humble me.
>
> Fairly closely related to what Bill is saying above, this paper:
> http://c4ss.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/industrialpolicycarson0109.pdf
>

Oh, I should say, part I is a bit "-1 Flamebait", but in part II it
starts to get substantive, and really interesting.

-- 
Emlyn

http://emlyntech.wordpress.com - coding related
http://point7.wordpress.com - downshifting and ranting
(http://emlynoregan.com is currently down, see
http://point7.wordpress.com/2009/01/02/scarcity-mode-emlynoregancom-is-down/)