Reading Assignment: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: Chapters 14-15
In-Class Discussion
Ch12 (Zen and Art)
1. Oriental philosophy
- Sanskirt: “Thou are that” – everything you think you are and everything you perceive are undivided, understanding that there is no division is enlightenment
- achieving zen helps remove the illusion of separation of subject from object
- trying to look at things from many points of view (ex: newspaper article) vs just your own (ex: editorial)
2. DeWeese (artist)
- shows Phaedrus’ interactions with a romantic thinker and how they bring out differen parts of each other
- not technologically averse like John and Sylvia, he is a patron and technology buff
- ex: light switch out in studio, DeWeese is interested in how Phaedrus came to diagnose the switch
- Phaedrus was fascinated by him because he didn’t understand him (applying classical thinking to social interactions, as well)
- when Pheadrus comments that the students he identifies most with are also the ones who are failing, DeWeese realizes it’s a super truth because the best students generally ignore/buck the established system
- there isn’t a black and white difference between technology/science and art
3. a priori motorcycle
- understanding how all the parts move together
- piston moves down, drives the flywheel through connecting rod, causes the primary chain to move, moves clutch basket (which is on a common shaft in high gear, so 1 to 1), wheel sprocket turns on axle, rear wheel turns
- diagram below
Ch13 (Zen and Art)
- Phaedrus was a professor at a teaching college (no opportunities for professors to research)
- accreditation- organization evaluates the school and ensures that it meets some standards
1. Church of Reason
- School is a place where learning and education takes place, devotion to intellectual improvement defines a university not the accreditation
- primary goal: “Socrates’ old goal of truth” (p149)
- But there are some places where you can’t apply reason (ex: ethics, art, faith)
- People are fanatics because they don’t have complete confidence in something (explains why Phaedrus felt identity with students from last chapter)
In Class Demonstration
- model of a stator (actually has 6 coils in a circle, model has two) with rotor in the center
- spinning magnet (and it’s changing magnetic field lines) produces a voltage in a coil
- putting an iron core in each coil causes the amplitude of the AC signal to increase
- laminated plates used to break up the Eddy current (magnetic break that’s induced, resists the motion of the current) into smaller areas instead of a single, large area
Point: Knowing the system components and the end goal, you can work backwards to design the specs of the individual parameters. In this case, knowing the minimum spark voltage needed, you can work backwards and determine the number of coils needed, strength of magnet, and other factors.
Lab Updates
- Bottom end- sandblasted outer timing cover
- Top end- measured tension and compression distance with ring force gauge to determine spring constants
- Frames, Forks, Wheels- sandblasted forks, applied Bondo, drilled pilot holes (note: don’t want the pilot drill to snap; always use recommended size or above)
- Electrical- created a GIF out of the image series of the automatic spark advance at different speeds
