Notes by David McElroy
Recap of Last Lab
Connor + Grace
- Put on the muffler, kickstand, need to keep working so it’s easier to assemble
Noelle + Alex
- Found parts to assemble shocks, cleaned and attached them
- Attached rod for brake pedal, spring for kickstand
Hannah + Eric
- Loosening and tightening spokes, tuning the front wheel
Emily + Jordan
- Asdf
Jake + Brandon
- Put together different components of the fork
- Work on stanchions
Charlie + Julianne
- Putting top end onto bottom end
- Now that covers for pushrods have arrived, can be completed
Alex K
- Put the transmission in the engine !!
- Gear shifting is working well
Ricky
- Cleaning wires up and putting coils in stator
Discussion of ZAMM
Chapter 25 (led by Jake)
- Not many motorcycle references
- Talked about technology
- Some people find it very ugly, but it doesn’t have to be
- If people put care into something, it has Quality, so it can be beautiful
- Technology is not (inherently) an exploitation of nature, but a blending of human efforts with nature
- Practical part of the book! Giving actual life advice
- Peace of mind: in your daily life, in your community
- Generally regarded as a good chapter by the class
Chapter 26 (led by Julianne)
- Motorcycle references
- Compared motorcycles to cars — motorcycles are longer-lived
- All the things that can go wrong when you buy a part — so make your own!
- Elasticity of bolts — washers to add resistance, to hold things in place
- Gumption
- Someone who connects with Quality is filled with gumption, and umption in turn promotes Quality
- Setbacks:
- Out of Sequence Assembly: need to be very careful, take notes
- Intermittency: importance of learning how to fix it yourself
- Hangups:
- Value traps: not being willing to reevaluate values; need to slow down and examine situation
- Truth traps: subjective vs objective argument, yes/no is a false dichotomy; ask a better question
- Muscle Traps: for example, inadequate tools, bad surroundings
- Form & Function
- Form ever follows function, don’t add decoration — there is elegance in a well-designed structure already
- Also a well-regarded chapter
Chapter 27 (led by Professor Littman)
- Back behind the glass door
- Phaedrus is starting to wake up, starting come back
Chapter 28 (led by Professor Littman)
- Shifting back and forth between perspective, between “Phaedrus” and “I”
- His troubles as a student — between many different majors
- His struggles with Quality
- Struggles with the department
- He wants to teach Quality
- They want him to focus on writing, not philosophy, or they’ll kick him out
- So he decides to make them kick him out
- Mythos vs. Logos
- Perhaps another form of the Romantic vs. Classical divide?
Model T!
- Everyone got a chance to drive Princeton’s Model T, which everyone thought was really cool!