We do it tomorrow because we did it today, and there's the natural challenge
to make our next product better than our last. The trade lives because as
intelligent as the human race is, a true craftsman can always make "it"
better than the last guy choosing only to use the highlights of what he's
learned through passed on lessons, choosing to improve on that which he
feels justified. The resulting new innovations though many, are simple
derivatives of circuitous technology. Tools, means, methods,
efficiencies...all are simple but plodding enhancements yet the core of the
technology still lies with rudimentary tools, rudimentary materials and
rudimentary physics..... such as it is with any trade that continues, such
that it is that any trade plied today can trace it's ancestral roots to
trades of yesterday, all of which were required to provide basic food and
shelter. As long as the race shall live, so to will the trade....

Rob

--


http://www.robswoodworking.com

"D. A. Clark" wrote in message
om...
bridger wrote in message

as I see it, you started a thread that was almost, but not quite
completely off topic...

The topic is, What is Living Trade?

it's a part of being social mammals. it's about communication, on a
level somewhere a bit deeper than language. it keeps us from killing
and eating our young, which is a good thing for social mammals. it's
wired in deep, man, so deep that it's really difficult to analyze what
it is and why it's there, especially using cognitive functions that
are "higher" than emotional response...

A good answer, for not knowing the question...

the working of wood is one of our base technologies. like weaving,
cooking food and making maps it is something that must be developed in
order to build a complex civilization. why do we do that? beats me,
but we sure do...

Collectively, we do so as a civilization, but real progress is
individual effort, wouldn't you agree?

being a base technology, we will return to it time and again. it sits
there in our subconscious and feeds our minds principles and metaphors
that show up in diverse and seemingly unrelated endeavors. while we
are not without alternatives to wood for materials with which to
construct the acouterments of this complex civilization that we have
built for ourselves, wood appeals to us on a number of levels. it's a
material used by our ancestors, and humans are nothing if not suckers
for sentimentality. it's also a pretty good material for lots of
things. it has a sweet strength to weight ratio. it has failure modes
that are fairly predictable. coming from a living thing it gives us a
connection to nature. it's easily worked with fairly simple tools.

Not a fully concise assimilation, but lots of emotion. A good
statement in favor of seeking an answer to what is living trade.

people like making things. we're just wired that way. it comes from
walking upright and having hands with opposable thumbs.

This is an answer that I am not satisfied with. To work wood is not
just an inherent condition, there is no such thing as a naturally born
woodworker. The ability to truly work wood comes through the
acquisition of knowledge and understanding. Skills, the assimilation
of tools and techniques are the by-product of time spent in
apprenticeship, whether at trade or in your own shop.

we do it for pay because there exists considerable demand for things
made by
people with specific skills. such is the nature of complex
civilizations. we
do it for recreation because whatever we do for pay provides
insufficient
stimulation to that part of our psyches that runs on the principles and
metaphors of woodworking. in short, we can't help it.

This is where your thesis breaks down. If you give it some thought, I
believe you will see that you are straddling a pointy fence.
Well, bridger, for not wanting to play, you made a fine contribution.
daclark