Re: Have We Entered a Post-Literate Technological Age?

[voxwoman <voxwoman -at- gmail -dot- com>]

So they can make costumes for fancy-dress parties?

It must be the engineer in me, but I have a desire to know how *everything*
works, even if I can't (or don't want to) fix it myself.

There are occasions, when essential technology will break and you will be
left to your own devices for some period of time. True, I grew up before the
ubiquity of cell phones, and I had to assist my boyfriend in reattaching a
transmission in a Ford Falcon on a deserted road during moonless night with
only a tire iron and some road flares for light. Otherwise we'd be walking
for hours before we found civilization.

This quote from Bob Heinlein also affected me quite strongly at a young age:

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher
a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts,
build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders,
cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure,
program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.
Specialization is for insects."

(I also know how to construct clothing. Without patterns if needed)

-Wendy

On Wed, Aug 19, 2009 at 1:52 PM, Sharon Burton <sharon -at- anthrobytes -dot- com>wrote:

> Why should we need to understand how shrink wrap technology works? It
> matters not at all to me *how* my car works, so long as it does. In a
> specialized society, we have experts who know how this stuff works and how
> to make it work again.
>
> Most people have no idea how to construct clothing, for example. And why
> should they?
>
>
> sharon
>
> Sharon Burton
> MadCap Software Product Consultant
> 951-369-8590
> IM: sharonvburton -at- yahoo -dot- com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+sharon=anthrobytes -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+sharon <techwr-l-bounces%2Bsharon>=
> anthrobytes -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
> Behalf Of Gene Kim-Eng
> Sent: Wednesday, August 19, 2009 7:25 AM
> To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: Re: Have We Entered a Post-Literate Technological Age?
>
> Nothing has changed.
>
> The first portable timepiece was built in the 1600's, the pocket watch
> followed
> in the 1700's and by the 1800's watches had become sufficiently affordable
> to be
> common. Do you think the average watch owner of any of those periods could
> have
> explained how the mechanisms inside their watches kept time?
>
> The earliest instance of something commonly used that could not be
> explained
>
> technologically or scientifically by its average user was probably fire.
>
> Gene Kim-Eng
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Daniel Ng" <kjng -at- gprotechnologies -dot- com>
> > When it comes to day to day communication about technology, for perfectly
> > functional adults, people can use technology but find it hard to talk or
> > describe how they use it. Most don't even know the program they use. As a
> > person who writes and instructs about technology, this makes an
> interesting
> > read.
>
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> Free Software Documentation Project Web Cast: Covers developing Table of
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> Free Software Documentation Project Web Cast: Covers developing Table of
> Contents, Context IDs, and Index, as well as Doc-To-Help
> 2009 tips, tricks, and best practices.
> http://www.doctohelp.com/SuperPages/Webcasts/
>
> Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
> authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
> once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control!
> http://www.helpandmanual.com/
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Free Software Documentation Project Web Cast: Covers developing Table of
Contents, Context IDs, and Index, as well as Doc-To-Help  
2009 tips, tricks, and best practices.
http://www.doctohelp.com/SuperPages/Webcasts/

Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/

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