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Considering old age...

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Frogwatch...
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 9:17 am
Guest
My most valuable employee is a 75 year old machinist who seems to know
how to do anything on old manual machines (won't have anything to do
with CNC) from an entire career spent working at IBM followed by
another career spent working at a university machine shop and also
working as a policeman. Not only do I rely on him for his skill at
making things but I rely on his judgement concerning people (us
science geeks are bad with such people skills). I see him aging and
resting his eyes more every year and I know somethign will suddenly
happen to him without any notice.
When he is gone, the world will have lost an huge store of knowledge
and this seems a real shame. In the USA, we are doing little to
replace such people and the new guys just do not have the store of odd
useful things in their heads. How on earth can we save such useful
skills?
It seems to me that the greatest advance we could make would be to
somehow preserve this knowledge and ability in a more useful form than
writing but how?
When I tell him something I want to have done, he always says "You
know you're crazy" to which I reply 'Yeah, but I know YOU can do it"
and he laughs and sure enough a few days later he has an answer.
Somehow, my problem must trigger things stored in the back of his mind
from 40 years ago that have not been used since then and he recalls
it. Is there some way we can preserve this?
We need some way to download people's memories and then use keywords
and key concepts to retrieve the related info. Not as good as having
the person to do it but at least it would not be entirely lost.
 
Frogwatch...
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 9:41 am
Guest
On Nov 4, 2:32 pm, "Ray O'Hara" <raymond-oh... at (no spam) hotmail.com> wrote:
[quote]"Frogwatch" <ohara... at (no spam) mindspring.com> wrote in message

news:df65ebea-6617-46e2-b6cc-4ebe78b63272 at (no spam) v36g2000yqv.googlegroups.com...



My most valuable employee is a 75 year old machinist who seems to know
how to do anything on old manual machines (won't have anything to do
with CNC) from an entire career spent working at IBM followed by
another career spent working at a university machine shop and also
working as a policeman.  Not only do I rely on him for his skill at
making things but I rely on his judgement concerning people (us
science geeks are bad with such people skills).  I see him aging and
resting his eyes more every year and I know somethign will suddenly
happen to him without any notice.
When he is gone, the world will have lost an huge store of knowledge
and this seems a real shame.  In the USA, we are doing little to
replace such people and the new guys just do not have the store of odd
useful things in their heads.  How on earth can we save such useful
skills?
It seems to me that the greatest advance we could make would be to
somehow preserve this knowledge and ability in a more useful form than
writing but how?
When I tell him something I want to have done, he always says "You
know you're crazy" to which I reply 'Yeah, but I know YOU can do it"
and he laughs and sure enough a few days later he has an answer.
Somehow, my problem must trigger things stored in the back of his mind
from 40 years ago that have not been used since then and he recalls
it.  Is there some way we can preserve this?
We need some way to download people's memories and then use keywords
and key concepts to retrieve the related info.  Not as good as having
the person to do it but at least it would not be entirely lost.

no one knows how to build a pyramid anymore either. the eath keeps spinning.
[/quote]
We do not need pyramids, we do need skilled toolmakers
 
Jack Linthicum...
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 11:24 am
Guest
On Nov 4, 4:10 pm, "Ray O'Hara" <raymond-oh... at (no spam) hotmail.com> wrote:
[quote]"Frogwatch" <ohara... at (no spam) mindspring.com> wrote in message

news:43d1c157-46f4-4d25-aadd-7ef7170f4920 at (no spam) j19g2000yqk.googlegroups.com...
On Nov 4, 2:32 pm, "Ray O'Hara" <raymond-oh... at (no spam) hotmail.com> wrote:



"Frogwatch" <ohara... at (no spam) mindspring.com> wrote in message

news:df65ebea-6617-46e2-b6cc-4ebe78b63272 at (no spam) v36g2000yqv.googlegroups.com....

My most valuable employee is a 75 year old machinist who seems to know
how to do anything on old manual machines (won't have anything to do
with CNC) from an entire career spent working at IBM followed by
another career spent working at a university machine shop and also
working as a policeman. Not only do I rely on him for his skill at
making things but I rely on his judgement concerning people (us
science geeks are bad with such people skills). I see him aging and
resting his eyes more every year and I know somethign will suddenly
happen to him without any notice.
When he is gone, the world will have lost an huge store of knowledge
and this seems a real shame. In the USA, we are doing little to
replace such people and the new guys just do not have the store of odd
useful things in their heads. How on earth can we save such useful
skills?
It seems to me that the greatest advance we could make would be to
somehow preserve this knowledge and ability in a more useful form than
writing but how?
When I tell him something I want to have done, he always says "You
know you're crazy" to which I reply 'Yeah, but I know YOU can do it"
and he laughs and sure enough a few days later he has an answer.
Somehow, my problem must trigger things stored in the back of his mind
from 40 years ago that have not been used since then and he recalls
it. Is there some way we can preserve this?
We need some way to download people's memories and then use keywords
and key concepts to retrieve the related info. Not as good as having
the person to do it but at least it would not be entirely lost.

no one knows how to build a pyramid anymore either. the eath keeps
spinning.

We do not need pyramids, we do need skilled toolmakers

=====================================================================
stores are full of tools.
computers have replaced machinists.
and the pyramid architects were very skilled craftsmen.
new times and new methods. that's all.
[/quote]
Google tool and die maker jobs
 
Frogwatch...
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 12:12 pm
Guest
On Nov 4, 5:00 pm, William Black <william.bl... at (no spam) hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
[quote]Ray O'Hara wrote:
"William Black" <william.bl... at (no spam) hotmail.co.uk> wrote in message
news:hcspdg$eai$1 at (no spam) news.eternal-september.org...
Ray O'Hara wrote:
"Frogwatch" <ohara... at (no spam) mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:df65ebea-6617-46e2-b6cc-4ebe78b63272 at (no spam) v36g2000yqv.googlegroups.com....
My most valuable employee is a 75 year old machinist who seems to know
how to do anything on old manual machines (won't have anything to do
with CNC) from an entire career spent working at IBM followed by
another career spent working at a university machine shop and also
working as a policeman.  Not only do I rely on him for his skill at
making things but I rely on his judgement concerning people (us
science geeks are bad with such people skills).  I see him aging and
resting his eyes more every year and I know somethign will suddenly
happen to him without any notice.
When he is gone, the world will have lost an huge store of knowledge
and this seems a real shame.  In the USA, we are doing little to
replace such people and the new guys just do not have the store of odd
useful things in their heads.  How on earth can we save such useful
skills?
It seems to me that the greatest advance we could make would be to
somehow preserve this knowledge and ability in a more useful form than
writing but how?
When I tell him something I want to have done, he always says "You
know you're crazy" to which I reply 'Yeah, but I know YOU can do it"
and he laughs and sure enough a few days later he has an answer.
Somehow, my problem must trigger things stored in the back of his mind
from 40 years ago that have not been used since then and he recalls
it.  Is there some way we can preserve this?
We need some way to download people's memories and then use keywords
and key concepts to retrieve the related info.  Not as good as having
the person to do it but at least it would not be entirely lost.

no one knows how to build a pyramid anymore either. the eath keeps
spinning.
Actually they do.

They just can't afford to build any these days.

There are no lost arts.

 they can build a pyramid but not the way they built them.
and hordes of Jewish slaves hauling blocks wasn't the method used.

Do you have some sort of serious source that says Jewish slaves built
anything we actually know about?

--
William Black

"Any number under six"

The answer given by Englishman Richard Peeke when asked by the Duke of
Medina Sidonia how many Spanish sword and buckler men he could beat
single handed with a quarterstaff.
[/quote]
In many cases, it would take more time to program a CNC to do
something than it would to make just one. In those cases, you need a
skilled machinist. This is particularly true when you know you will
be making changes to the item. A recent example was a part where the
machinist made the first one and then they tried to program the CNC to
make more. The first one took a day to make by hand on the manual
machines. It took three weeks and many bad parts to finally get the
CNC to do it right.
Often, a part is being made purely for R&D and you know a commercial
version will look different. In such a case, it often costs less to
make it manually than to program the CNC. There are also many things
even a 5 axis CNC cannot do. Many of our optics have sufficient
variation that holders for them must be individually made and the fit
is simply by repeated measurement.
Even in 2009, there is still a need for skills that old machinists/
tool and die makers have.
 
Jack Linthicum...
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 12:42 pm
Guest
On Nov 4, 5:20 pm, "Ray O'Hara" <raymond-oh... at (no spam) hotmail.com> wrote:
[quote]"William Black" <william.bl... at (no spam) hotmail.co.uk> wrote in message

news:hcsthj$knu$1 at (no spam) news.eternal-september.org...



Ray O'Hara wrote:
"William Black" <william.bl... at (no spam) hotmail.co.uk> wrote in message
news:hcspdg$eai$1 at (no spam) news.eternal-september.org...
Ray O'Hara wrote:
"Frogwatch" <ohara... at (no spam) mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:df65ebea-6617-46e2-b6cc-4ebe78b63272 at (no spam) v36g2000yqv.googlegroups.com...
My most valuable employee is a 75 year old machinist who seems to know
how to do anything on old manual machines (won't have anything to do
with CNC) from an entire career spent working at IBM followed by
another career spent working at a university machine shop and also
working as a policeman.  Not only do I rely on him for his skill at
making things but I rely on his judgement concerning people (us
science geeks are bad with such people skills).  I see him aging and
resting his eyes more every year and I know somethign will suddenly
happen to him without any notice.
When he is gone, the world will have lost an huge store of knowledge
and this seems a real shame.  In the USA, we are doing little to
replace such people and the new guys just do not have the store of odd
useful things in their heads.  How on earth can we save such useful
skills?
It seems to me that the greatest advance we could make would be to
somehow preserve this knowledge and ability in a more useful form than
writing but how?
When I tell him something I want to have done, he always says "You
know you're crazy" to which I reply 'Yeah, but I know YOU can do it"
and he laughs and sure enough a few days later he has an answer.
Somehow, my problem must trigger things stored in the back of his mind
from 40 years ago that have not been used since then and he recalls
it.  Is there some way we can preserve this?
We need some way to download people's memories and then use keywords
and key concepts to retrieve the related info.  Not as good as having
the person to do it but at least it would not be entirely lost.

no one knows how to build a pyramid anymore either. the eath keeps
spinning.
Actually they do.

They just can't afford to build any these days.

There are no lost arts.

 they can build a pyramid but not the way they built them.
and hordes of Jewish slaves hauling blocks wasn't the method used.

Do you have some sort of serious source that says Jewish slaves built
anything we actually know about?

why would I when I said they didn't do it
what part of that is so difficult for you to understand.

as for claims they did read the bible, its a book some famous jewish guys
wrote/plagiarized and many people believe.{maybe even you}
[/quote]
Another view look up tool and die maker jobs on google
 
deemsbill at (no spam) aol.com...
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 2:17 pm
Guest
On Nov 4, 5:20 pm, "Ray O'Hara" <raymond-oh... at (no spam) hotmail.com> wrote:
[quote]"William Black" <william.bl... at (no spam) hotmail.co.uk> wrote in message

news:hcsthj$knu$1 at (no spam) news.eternal-september.org...





Ray O'Hara wrote:
"William Black" <william.bl... at (no spam) hotmail.co.uk> wrote in message
news:hcspdg$eai$1 at (no spam) news.eternal-september.org...
Ray O'Hara wrote:
"Frogwatch" <ohara... at (no spam) mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:df65ebea-6617-46e2-b6cc-4ebe78b63272 at (no spam) v36g2000yqv.googlegroups.com...
My most valuable employee is a 75 year old machinist who seems to know
how to do anything on old manual machines (won't have anything to do
with CNC) from an entire career spent working at IBM followed by
another career spent working at a university machine shop and also
working as a policeman.  Not only do I rely on him for his skill at
making things but I rely on his judgement concerning people (us
science geeks are bad with such people skills).  I see him aging and
resting his eyes more every year and I know somethign will suddenly
happen to him without any notice.
When he is gone, the world will have lost an huge store of knowledge
and this seems a real shame.  In the USA, we are doing little to
replace such people and the new guys just do not have the store of odd
useful things in their heads.  How on earth can we save such useful
skills?
It seems to me that the greatest advance we could make would be to
somehow preserve this knowledge and ability in a more useful form than
writing but how?
When I tell him something I want to have done, he always says "You
know you're crazy" to which I reply 'Yeah, but I know YOU can do it"
and he laughs and sure enough a few days later he has an answer.
Somehow, my problem must trigger things stored in the back of his mind
from 40 years ago that have not been used since then and he recalls
it.  Is there some way we can preserve this?
We need some way to download people's memories and then use keywords
and key concepts to retrieve the related info.  Not as good as having
the person to do it but at least it would not be entirely lost.

no one knows how to build a pyramid anymore either. the eath keeps
spinning.
Actually they do.

They just can't afford to build any these days.

There are no lost arts.

 they can build a pyramid but not the way they built them.
and hordes of Jewish slaves hauling blocks wasn't the method used.

Do you have some sort of serious source that says Jewish slaves built
anything we actually know about?

why would I when I said they didn't do it
what part of that is so difficult for you to understand.

as for claims they did read the bible, its a book some famous jewish guys
wrote/plagiarized and many people believe.{maybe even you}-
[/quote]
I'm pretty sure Jewish slaves building the pyramids isn't in the
Bible.
 
deemsbill at (no spam) aol.com...
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 2:29 pm
Guest
On Nov 4, 2:17 pm, Frogwatch <ohara... at (no spam) mindspring.com> wrote:
[quote]My most valuable employee is a 75 year old machinist who seems to know
how to do anything on old manual machines (won't have anything to do
with CNC) from an entire career spent working at IBM followed by
another career spent working at a university machine shop and also
working as a policeman.  Not only do I rely on him for his skill at
making things but I rely on his judgement concerning people (us
science geeks are bad with such people skills).  I see him aging and
resting his eyes more every year and I know somethign will suddenly
happen to him without any notice.
When he is gone, the world will have lost an huge store of knowledge
and this seems a real shame.  In the USA, we are doing little to
replace such people and the new guys just do not have the store of odd
useful things in their heads.  How on earth can we save such useful
skills?
It seems to me that the greatest advance we could make would be to
somehow preserve this knowledge and ability in a more useful form than
writing but how?
When I tell him something I want to have done, he always says "You
know you're crazy" to which I reply 'Yeah, but I know YOU can do it"
and he laughs and sure enough a few days later he has an answer.
Somehow, my problem must trigger things stored in the back of his mind
from 40 years ago that have not been used since then and he recalls
it.  Is there some way we can preserve this?
We need some way to download people's memories and then use keywords
and key concepts to retrieve the related info.  Not as good as having
the person to do it but at least it would not be entirely lost.
[/quote]
When the DOE plants here started down-sizing, they gave early
retirements to many who had been around and knew a lot of the little
things that weren't in the manuals. Others left to start private
companies with DOE seed money.

There are some things that are only done every decade or so and
when it's time to do them, there isn't anyone left who has done them
before. For example, they emptied and cleaned a uranium processing
kiln a few years ago. The manual neglected to mention it had to be
totally dry before restarting.....resulting in a really nasty
radioactive fire and some old guys saying "Hell, I coulda told you
that".

The plants have also lost the welders who knew how to weld all
sorts of esoteric metals together. After a few (expensive) mistakes,
they figure out they have to contract the work to one of those private
companies started with seed money. This seems to happen again and
again. Maybe a few of the bigwigs should figure this out beforehand.
 
Ray O'Hara...
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 2:32 pm
Guest
"Frogwatch" <ohara5.0 at (no spam) mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:df65ebea-6617-46e2-b6cc-4ebe78b63272 at (no spam) v36g2000yqv.googlegroups.com...
[quote]My most valuable employee is a 75 year old machinist who seems to know
how to do anything on old manual machines (won't have anything to do
with CNC) from an entire career spent working at IBM followed by
another career spent working at a university machine shop and also
working as a policeman. Not only do I rely on him for his skill at
making things but I rely on his judgement concerning people (us
science geeks are bad with such people skills). I see him aging and
resting his eyes more every year and I know somethign will suddenly
happen to him without any notice.
When he is gone, the world will have lost an huge store of knowledge
and this seems a real shame. In the USA, we are doing little to
replace such people and the new guys just do not have the store of odd
useful things in their heads. How on earth can we save such useful
skills?
It seems to me that the greatest advance we could make would be to
somehow preserve this knowledge and ability in a more useful form than
writing but how?
When I tell him something I want to have done, he always says "You
know you're crazy" to which I reply 'Yeah, but I know YOU can do it"
and he laughs and sure enough a few days later he has an answer.
Somehow, my problem must trigger things stored in the back of his mind
from 40 years ago that have not been used since then and he recalls
it. Is there some way we can preserve this?
We need some way to download people's memories and then use keywords
and key concepts to retrieve the related info. Not as good as having
the person to do it but at least it would not be entirely lost.
[/quote]

no one knows how to build a pyramid anymore either. the eath keeps spinning.
 
William Black...
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 2:40 pm
Guest
Frogwatch wrote:
[quote]My most valuable employee is a 75 year old machinist who seems to know
how to do anything on old manual machines (won't have anything to do
with CNC) from an entire career spent working at IBM followed by
another career spent working at a university machine shop and also
working as a policeman. Not only do I rely on him for his skill at
making things but I rely on his judgement concerning people (us
science geeks are bad with such people skills). I see him aging and
resting his eyes more every year and I know somethign will suddenly
happen to him without any notice.
When he is gone, the world will have lost an huge store of knowledge
and this seems a real shame. In the USA, we are doing little to
replace such people and the new guys just do not have the store of odd
useful things in their heads. How on earth can we save such useful
skills?
It seems to me that the greatest advance we could make would be to
somehow preserve this knowledge and ability in a more useful form than
writing but how?
When I tell him something I want to have done, he always says "You
know you're crazy" to which I reply 'Yeah, but I know YOU can do it"
and he laughs and sure enough a few days later he has an answer.
Somehow, my problem must trigger things stored in the back of his mind
from 40 years ago that have not been used since then and he recalls
it. Is there some way we can preserve this?
We need some way to download people's memories and then use keywords
and key concepts to retrieve the related info. Not as good as having
the person to do it but at least it would not be entirely lost.
[/quote]
Hire an apprentice.

Normal apprenticeship for a 'toolmaker' or 'detail engineer' is three
years in the UK with them doing one day at college and four days in your
factory.

Pay is 50% the first year, 75% the second year and 90% the third year.

Take care, 'articles of employment' and so formal apprenticeships may
be illegal in the USA...

Don't expect any useful work from him in the first year, he (or she)
will spend that fetching and carrying and sweeping up and being
generally insulted.


--
William Black

"Any number under six"

The answer given by Englishman Richard Peeke when asked by the Duke of
Medina Sidonia how many Spanish sword and buckler men he could beat
single handed with a quarterstaff.
 
Juergen Nieveler...
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 3:19 pm
Guest
Frogwatch <ohara5.0 at (no spam) mindspring.com> wrote:

[quote]We do not need pyramids, we do need skilled toolmakers
[/quote]
Ah... but with a pyramid, you wouldn't need new tools anymore. Just
store them in the pyramid overnight, and they're as good as new.

Juergen Nieveler
--
The grim fact is that we prepare for war like precocious giants and for
peace like retarded pygmies.
Lester Pearson
 
William Black...
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 3:49 pm
Guest
Ray O'Hara wrote:
[quote]"Frogwatch" <ohara5.0 at (no spam) mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:df65ebea-6617-46e2-b6cc-4ebe78b63272 at (no spam) v36g2000yqv.googlegroups.com...
My most valuable employee is a 75 year old machinist who seems to know
how to do anything on old manual machines (won't have anything to do
with CNC) from an entire career spent working at IBM followed by
another career spent working at a university machine shop and also
working as a policeman. Not only do I rely on him for his skill at
making things but I rely on his judgement concerning people (us
science geeks are bad with such people skills). I see him aging and
resting his eyes more every year and I know somethign will suddenly
happen to him without any notice.
When he is gone, the world will have lost an huge store of knowledge
and this seems a real shame. In the USA, we are doing little to
replace such people and the new guys just do not have the store of odd
useful things in their heads. How on earth can we save such useful
skills?
It seems to me that the greatest advance we could make would be to
somehow preserve this knowledge and ability in a more useful form than
writing but how?
When I tell him something I want to have done, he always says "You
know you're crazy" to which I reply 'Yeah, but I know YOU can do it"
and he laughs and sure enough a few days later he has an answer.
Somehow, my problem must trigger things stored in the back of his mind
from 40 years ago that have not been used since then and he recalls
it. Is there some way we can preserve this?
We need some way to download people's memories and then use keywords
and key concepts to retrieve the related info. Not as good as having
the person to do it but at least it would not be entirely lost.


no one knows how to build a pyramid anymore either. the eath keeps spinning.


[/quote]
Actually they do.

They just can't afford to build any these days.

There are no lost arts.


--
William Black

"Any number under six"

The answer given by Englishman Richard Peeke when asked by the Duke of
Medina Sidonia how many Spanish sword and buckler men he could beat
single handed with a quarterstaff.
 
Ray O'Hara...
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 4:10 pm
Guest
"Frogwatch" <ohara5.0 at (no spam) mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:43d1c157-46f4-4d25-aadd-7ef7170f4920 at (no spam) j19g2000yqk.googlegroups.com...
On Nov 4, 2:32 pm, "Ray O'Hara" <raymond-oh... at (no spam) hotmail.com> wrote:
[quote]"Frogwatch" <ohara... at (no spam) mindspring.com> wrote in message

news:df65ebea-6617-46e2-b6cc-4ebe78b63272 at (no spam) v36g2000yqv.googlegroups.com...



My most valuable employee is a 75 year old machinist who seems to know
how to do anything on old manual machines (won't have anything to do
with CNC) from an entire career spent working at IBM followed by
another career spent working at a university machine shop and also
working as a policeman. Not only do I rely on him for his skill at
making things but I rely on his judgement concerning people (us
science geeks are bad with such people skills). I see him aging and
resting his eyes more every year and I know somethign will suddenly
happen to him without any notice.
When he is gone, the world will have lost an huge store of knowledge
and this seems a real shame. In the USA, we are doing little to
replace such people and the new guys just do not have the store of odd
useful things in their heads. How on earth can we save such useful
skills?
It seems to me that the greatest advance we could make would be to
somehow preserve this knowledge and ability in a more useful form than
writing but how?
When I tell him something I want to have done, he always says "You
know you're crazy" to which I reply 'Yeah, but I know YOU can do it"
and he laughs and sure enough a few days later he has an answer.
Somehow, my problem must trigger things stored in the back of his mind
from 40 years ago that have not been used since then and he recalls
it. Is there some way we can preserve this?
We need some way to download people's memories and then use keywords
and key concepts to retrieve the related info. Not as good as having
the person to do it but at least it would not be entirely lost.

no one knows how to build a pyramid anymore either. the eath keeps
spinning.
[/quote]
We do not need pyramids, we do need skilled toolmakers


======================================================================

stores are full of tools.
computers have replaced machinists.
and the pyramid architects were very skilled craftsmen.
new times and new methods. that's all.
 
Ray O'Hara...
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 4:12 pm
Guest
"William Black" <william.black at (no spam) hotmail.co.uk> wrote in message
news:hcspdg$eai$1 at (no spam) news.eternal-september.org...
[quote]Ray O'Hara wrote:
"Frogwatch" <ohara5.0 at (no spam) mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:df65ebea-6617-46e2-b6cc-4ebe78b63272 at (no spam) v36g2000yqv.googlegroups.com...
My most valuable employee is a 75 year old machinist who seems to know
how to do anything on old manual machines (won't have anything to do
with CNC) from an entire career spent working at IBM followed by
another career spent working at a university machine shop and also
working as a policeman. Not only do I rely on him for his skill at
making things but I rely on his judgement concerning people (us
science geeks are bad with such people skills). I see him aging and
resting his eyes more every year and I know somethign will suddenly
happen to him without any notice.
When he is gone, the world will have lost an huge store of knowledge
and this seems a real shame. In the USA, we are doing little to
replace such people and the new guys just do not have the store of odd
useful things in their heads. How on earth can we save such useful
skills?
It seems to me that the greatest advance we could make would be to
somehow preserve this knowledge and ability in a more useful form than
writing but how?
When I tell him something I want to have done, he always says "You
know you're crazy" to which I reply 'Yeah, but I know YOU can do it"
and he laughs and sure enough a few days later he has an answer.
Somehow, my problem must trigger things stored in the back of his mind
from 40 years ago that have not been used since then and he recalls
it. Is there some way we can preserve this?
We need some way to download people's memories and then use keywords
and key concepts to retrieve the related info. Not as good as having
the person to do it but at least it would not be entirely lost.


no one knows how to build a pyramid anymore either. the eath keeps
spinning.

Actually they do.

They just can't afford to build any these days.

There are no lost arts.

[/quote]
they can build a pyramid but not the way they built them.
and hordes of Jewish slaves hauling blocks wasn't the method used.
 
Fred J. McCall...
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 4:47 pm
Guest
"Ray O'Hara" <raymond-ohara at (no spam) hotmail.com> wrote:

:
:stores are full of tools.
:

But not necessarily the ones you need.

:
:computers have replaced machinists.
:

Not so much, no.

:
:and the pyramid architects were very skilled craftsmen.
:

Architects are skilled craftsmen.

:
:new times and new methods. that's all.
:

True, but 'new' doesn't always equate to 'better'.

--
"It's always different. It's always complex. But at some point,
somebody has to draw the line. And that somebody is always me....
I am the law."
-- Buffy, The Vampire Slayer
 
William Black...
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 5:00 pm
Guest
Ray O'Hara wrote:
[quote]"William Black" <william.black at (no spam) hotmail.co.uk> wrote in message
news:hcspdg$eai$1 at (no spam) news.eternal-september.org...
Ray O'Hara wrote:
"Frogwatch" <ohara5.0 at (no spam) mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:df65ebea-6617-46e2-b6cc-4ebe78b63272 at (no spam) v36g2000yqv.googlegroups.com...
My most valuable employee is a 75 year old machinist who seems to know
how to do anything on old manual machines (won't have anything to do
with CNC) from an entire career spent working at IBM followed by
another career spent working at a university machine shop and also
working as a policeman. Not only do I rely on him for his skill at
making things but I rely on his judgement concerning people (us
science geeks are bad with such people skills). I see him aging and
resting his eyes more every year and I know somethign will suddenly
happen to him without any notice.
When he is gone, the world will have lost an huge store of knowledge
and this seems a real shame. In the USA, we are doing little to
replace such people and the new guys just do not have the store of odd
useful things in their heads. How on earth can we save such useful
skills?
It seems to me that the greatest advance we could make would be to
somehow preserve this knowledge and ability in a more useful form than
writing but how?
When I tell him something I want to have done, he always says "You
know you're crazy" to which I reply 'Yeah, but I know YOU can do it"
and he laughs and sure enough a few days later he has an answer.
Somehow, my problem must trigger things stored in the back of his mind
from 40 years ago that have not been used since then and he recalls
it. Is there some way we can preserve this?
We need some way to download people's memories and then use keywords
and key concepts to retrieve the related info. Not as good as having
the person to do it but at least it would not be entirely lost.

no one knows how to build a pyramid anymore either. the eath keeps
spinning.
Actually they do.

They just can't afford to build any these days.

There are no lost arts.


they can build a pyramid but not the way they built them.
and hordes of Jewish slaves hauling blocks wasn't the method used.


[/quote]
Do you have some sort of serious source that says Jewish slaves built
anything we actually know about?


--
William Black

"Any number under six"

The answer given by Englishman Richard Peeke when asked by the Duke of
Medina Sidonia how many Spanish sword and buckler men he could beat
single handed with a quarterstaff.
 
 
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