Announcements:
– We will have groups on Fusion 360: a group with the entire class, and smaller groups with the teams on different parts that we’re currently on.
– 1 set of Lego Technics is in with 2 options to build a retro or modern bike. We also have some calipers to measure the parts on the Lego motorcycles so we can rebuild those in Fusion 360.
– The small groups will still have a final presentation on the parts we work with as a final assessment.
Chapter 25:
Discussion leader: Adam
Adam: Chapter 25 has a focus on romantic & classic quality
Ben: This is where the zen in the book starts. The clash between classic & romantic is unnecessary, and it’s cathartic to get to the final focus on zen and peace of mind in motorcycle maintenance
Adam: “just sitting” & “just fixing” on page 303 exude this
Ben: it makes sense from an eastern philosophy perspective
Prof. Littman: “techne”, the root word for “technology”, originally meant “art”
Adam: “programs of a political nature are important end products of social quality that can be effective only if the underlying structure of social values is right” – page 304
Kate: representation of Buddhism has been more accurate than representation of other Eastern philosophies. Physicist’s discussion with a poet on how the poet can’t see the beauty in the molecules parallels this
Prof. Littman: The peace of mind on 3 levels: physical, mental & value quietness connects to the next chapter. Architects often add styles to object. However, adding styles to structural art – being both elegant & functional is a concept that contrast to how style adds to phoniness in the book.
Cecilia: “Understanding another person’s mind is an illusion” towards the end of the chapter. In conjunction with the Phaedrus chapter, it’s an interesting divide
Anna: “Beauty & ugliness is inherent in the way you make something, Quality is inherent”: this idea is kinda upsetting in how it’s implied in the creation of the object.
Prof. Littman: The issue of subjective perspective influence this a lot. Back and forth pistons might look bizarre, but how well they work is potentially beautiful
Hien: “serenity at the center of it all” on page 304 is confusing
Taylor: Interpret it as a deep diving into that idea, an explicit statement that the peace of mind you have on whatever machine you’re working on (in our case: motorcycle), enjoying it for the work you’re doing, removing the process from the end goal is the high quality mode of work that is the central “serenity” of it all
Prof. Littman: Eiffel Tower – Peace of mind produces right value of building a maximally efficient structure, producing the right thoughts of reducing materials & costs, building elegant structure, producing the right actions of building this structure, which create the right work for people to see a center “serenity” from how people witness the final work of the Eiffel tower
Kate: The train of thought is common in Eastern philosophy.
Rupert: If you do it, everyone can also see the quality of work and the ultimate peace of mind that you’re putting in
Kaixing: This is a very elitist way to put it. Saying this means assuming that people need to have a structurally accurate/correct scientific understanding, which isn’t accurate for everyone. The process of accurately translating ideals to reality isn’t that simple and isn’t that straightforward for everyone, and isn’t that guaranteed.
Barry: “just sitting” at the bottom of page 303 – duality of self & object isn’t dominant. When you get lost in your thoughts and isn’t dominated by separateness from what he’s working on, then he’s said to actually “care” about what he’s doing. This is very interesting.
To Kaixing: It feels like a very general process applying to life, rather than a straightforward and directly applying to a single working process, hence its seeming elitism.
Chapter 26:
Discussion leader: Jen
Motorcycle references:
Reese: The end of 312 & 313. Connecting rods & bearing
Prof. Littman: Page 325. Jammed nut & bolt & threads. Page 331 on the tightness of nut & bolts
Content:
Gumption traps & gumption loss
Jake: Personal experience with gumption is similar with many of the issues in the book. Author handled the troubleshooting really well.
Taylor: The situation itself doesn’t change much. Don’t be overwhelmed by the amount of work you have, change how difficult you perceive it to be is really fun to read & relate to.
Prof. Littman: External are “setbacks”, and internal are “hang-ups”
Setbacks – external
Hien: setbacks are motorcycle related and not more life related like the inner hangups. They are “out-of-sequence reassembly, intermittent failure and parts problems”. Not directly relatable to life, but life happens, especially with how we’re in the covid situation
Andy: A lot of stuff related to what the fluids team did.
Kaixing: A lot is still relatable to life: troubleshoot, get the tools helpful to solve them, etc.
Cecilia: General in how we can use the skills of dealing with frustration
Prof. Littman: A sense of pride in machining our own parts
Hang-ups – internal
Rupert: Not applicable to us in the “ego” part
Barry: bottom of 317: “value traps, truth traps & muscle traps”. Necessary to reevaluate things down the life as you work on things. Value traps – an example is how John has an ego and preconceived notion of how things should be done
Kate: specific example is the tin can used to fix the bike
Reese: Boredom + tiredness gumption trap. Start seeing things in the same way, it is important to take a break from it and come back with fresh eyes.
Anna: Interesting idea on “anxiety” – use motorcycle as a means to achieve your calm mental state of mind beyond working on the machine
Prof. Littman: resonates with the idea that motorcycle maintenance makes you humble, because you always encounter problems that are hard to figure out. There is a middle ground of learning to be not egotistical but also fearless in tackling problems. Not let the problem defeat you. True persistence in learning any sort of problem can be tackled.
Cecilia: Once you get down to it, fixing the motorcycle isn’t gonna lie
The idea of mu
Taylor: Yes and no isn’t sufficient. Mu is a helpful answer in life.
Jen: Using mu is looked down on, but it’s actually the answer to discussing things more broadly in the broader context and finding the better question, hence finding the better solution in life.
Hien: asking someone the trolley problem is just a trap, and the actual answer is realizing why it’s asked and what’s the purpose in discussing it.
Prof. Littman: To fix boredom, stop working on it or find curiosity. Patience is always an important thing, especially in the machine shop.
Anna: Two moments on the sad nature with his son: Yelling “WAKE” at Chris and his thought that Chris only wants to be popular to him. He also doesn’t do anything to fix it.
Chapter 27:
Discussion leader: Jen
Cecilia: Author’s relationship with Phaedrus is kinda violent in who’s the dominating figure
Kate: The shadow is the embodiment of himself comes up again
Rupert: The big reveal is that Robert is the shadow, but we knew all along, so he’s pretty slow in learning about himself.
Taylor: The animosity towards Phaedrus isn’t apparent till now, so it was exciting to see.
Discussion on Fusion360:
Daphne was inspired to make a LEGO brick from Fusion360. Used the sketch & extrusion tool to create the rectangular block, then the circular knobs.
Everyone should try to draw these LEGO bricks if possible.