I think you have a good point Robert.

In my opinion the more technologically advanced a society is, the more
"fragile" it becomes.

TMT

Robert Sturgeon wrote:
On 5 Aug 2006 07:27:58 -0700, "Too_Many_Tools"
wrote:

It has always concerned me when the young amoung us are not taugh basic
skills such as how to change a tire, how to use a saw, how to...well
you get the idea...there are basic skills that one needs to deal with
the world we live in. Well this article shows what that lack of
training, due to whatever reason, means as they get older.

When I drive through a neighborhood, it is a rare garage that has
anything like a workshop within it anymore....a reflection of the lack
of interest or knowledge of the homeowner to work with their hands?

Do your children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, the generation who
is succeeding us, have the basic skills that are needed in the world
today?

By and large, no. The post-modern economy is primarily
concerned with symbol manipulation -- not the creation of
real goods. There is very little call for the ability to do
icky stuff like using tools. What is needed in today's
world is the ability to manipulate symbols (known also as
the Symbolic Economy -- spreadsheets, databases, web pages,
data entry, reading and writing reports, politicking,
entertainment, lawyering, etc.).

A serious question, but one most of us don't like to think
about, is -- what skills might be needed in a
post-post-modern (a.k.a. post-SHTF) economy? And could we
meet such needs, if necessary? Probably not, which leads us
to the possibility of Tim May's "massive die-off," which
people like Jared Diamond assure us is possible when any
society/economy collapses. It is probably true that the
more symbolic, abstract, and detached from the production of
real goods a society/economy becomes, the more likely it is
to suffer a catastrophic collapse.

Fun, huh???

--
Robert Sturgeon
Summum ius summa inuria.
http://www.vistech.net/users/rsturge/