this post was submitted on 27 Oct 2024
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I fix my parents’ computers. I fix the computers of the super old people in the neighborhood. I fix my kid’s computer. I fix my friends’ computers.
I don’t think it’s generational.
When your car breaks down, do you fix it? At what point do you take it to a mechanic?
At what point do you call an electrician or plumber? Who biopsies their own cysts?
It’s all the same shit. We live in a society of specialists because there’s simply too much potential knowledge for everyone to be able to do everything.
And if we start arguing about what things people “ought to be able to do themselves”, we turn into a bunch of old farts lamenting about the good old days.
"DIY" is a thing because many strive to understand enough of multiple relevant basic disciplines needed as an adult to be able to cover the first 15% or so of common jobs before they see their limitations and call the specialists.
I believe the expressed frustration here is around the fact that acquiring that first 15% type skill is no longer seen as a responsibility/point of pride for folks to gain as they grow.
I think it depends. Even if I knew a bit about the subject, I would definitely want to hire someone who actually knows what they are doing for something like a gas pipe, where a mistake could be deadly. But people should know things like replacing a light switch, replacing a thermostat and pumping up a car tire.
Yes, you're making the same point - gas is that "knowing when you reach your limitation" part. But also, being able to push just up against that line and the curiosity/work invested to understand if you're able to do so is important, and very rewarding. There's a chance that people are losing that general curiosity to find that line and realize their capabilities are more than they thought prior to trying.
I fix my computers. I fix my car. I've done some electrical. No plumbing. And I recently biopsied a cyst that my doctor eyeballed and said was non cancerous and charged me $40 for nothing a year ago. It began annoying me a year later, and I'm stubborn and hate to go the doctor, and that guy was an ass. I'm ok with being called an old fart though. I'm also probably more optimistic about future generations. I don't think we're doomed, I remember being a collasal idiot, even as recently as last week, so I give other a little grace.
It's like we just happened to grow up at the right time where everyone was raised to be a mechanic, and we wonder why our kids don't fix their own cars.
It is less that and more that we are tired of using baby talk to describe the computer equivalent of "the driver's side door" or "the steering wheel".
This actually what drives me nuts about the US. Its like everyone is expected to be a doctor, a lawyer, an investor, a mechanic, an electrician, plumber, IT, and just everything. I look at the old black and white shows where the tv repair man is called and im like. wtf happened to this country.
100% agree.
I'm 50 years old and I am the IT guy for people of all ages. Not because I am part of some gifted generation that understands computers, but because I have a genuine interest and took the time to learn these things.
My 16yo son also has a keen interest in computers and I am passing on my knowledge where I can.
I somewhat feel that attributing computer knowledge to a generational thing in some way diminishes the effort and time it took to get the knowledge and experience that I do have.
You don't have to have hung around with Henry Ford to be a car guy, or Nikola Tesla to be an electrician.