Reports on Motorcycle Progress from Last Class
Frame:
Forks are no longer leaking (it was missing washer)
Worked on presentation
Put together shocks (new shocks, chromed on sides)
Electrical:
Hooked up wiring harness: tried to test it and was not able to get spark, John later got a spark
Should start tie wrapping wiring harness to frame today’s class
Clutch:
Found tan washer for rotor
Clutch all ready to go
Professor Littman cleaned up the threads
Must find the right woodruff keys
Top End:
Continued work on valve covers
Bottom End:
Helped with brakes/frame/clutch group
Class Discussion on Reading: Ch. 7+8 of Shop Class
Chapter 7: Thinking as Doing
- Universal knowledge = learning from books
- also learning while doing! (i.e. firefighters have a “sixth sense” that tells them when to get out of the building before it collapses)
- learning by doing: learn from past experiences
- writing of service manuals
- technical writers not necessarily experienced but present false pretense of rationality
- “The things we know best are the ones we contend with in some realm of regular practice” (163)
- hammer means nothing unless we fiddle around with it, put it to practice
- application to this class:
- understanding theory/diagrams are difficult to fully comprehend until we disassembled and we could physically touch each part
- electrical system: Ohm’s Law – V = IR
- physics theory of how electrical system is supposed to work v. additional resistance in wires that cannot be accounted for in theory, don’t know where this resistance comes from or how much of it there is
- learn about resistance in wires from experience (can tell if it comes from rain v. sand based on past hands-on experience)
- tight, dry and clean to describe electrical connections
- tight = no jiggle between wires to avoid intermittent connection
- dry = if they get wet (oil, especially) can interfere with electrical conductivity
- clean = wire is oxidized
- use different tools to fix wire problems based on environment (acquire knowledge of which tools based on past experience)
- physics theory of how electrical system is supposed to work v. additional resistance in wires that cannot be accounted for in theory, don’t know where this resistance comes from or how much of it there is
- Chess: Novices v. Experts
- learned tendencies, experts learn how to store recognized patterns
- idea of tactics v. position
- “experts learn to perceive things that are invisible to novices”
- difference in perception, different appreciation, thus different judgement of Quality
- “experts learn to perceive things that are invisible to novices”
- knowing that v. knowing how
- intellectual v. personal knowledge
Chapter 8: Work, Leisure, and Full Engagement
- dichotomy between work and leisure
- most people work to have MORE leisure, but if you work more, in reality you have less leisure (leisure defined as the absence of work)
- are work and leisure mutually exclusive?
- can be really engaged in, enjoy work
- in the case of author, working motorcycles as mechanic is pleasurable (he could be wiring houses for $$$ but doesn’t do it because he does not enjoy it)
- “wholehearted activity”: this is what one should aim for, work that is enjoyable
- most people work to have MORE leisure, but if you work more, in reality you have less leisure (leisure defined as the absence of work)
- Debate: Should we work to get more leisure or work because we truly enjoy it?
- Peace Corps
- To do the things you want, you have to do the things you don’t want
- Constant tradeoff between happiness and money
- Difference between enjoyment and fulfillment
- Rolls Royce man – lover of Rolls Royces, but has no idea where the parts come from
- Can you really enjoy something without knowing its full function, the components, or the entirety of its operation methods?
- If you turn a hobby into a business, you’ll hate the hobby.
Reading Assignment:
For next Tuesday, 4/30: Chapters 23-26 (23, 24, 25, 26)
For next Thursday, 5/2: read to the end of Shop Class