Posted on 08/11/2018 5:35:15 AM PDT by Chickensoup
True, but more accurate to say that their jobs were replaced by machines so they changed their focus from conserving knowledge to being arbiters of what knowledge should be conserved and what should be destroyed.
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You mean the printouts of what books are being used and what books are not being used? One has a stupid worldview if one does not understand the gold that lies in the covers of many books that describe their age.
I am going to use some not very important examples of popular literature that would be important to have a acquaintanceship with today.
The John MacDonald Detective series — describes the 50’s and 60’s wilds of Florida and the grifters within beautifully and provides an underpinning in understanding what Florida is like today.
The Laurence Sanders Deadly Sins series describes the mores and culture of NYC in the late sixties and seventies. Very descriptive.
John Marquand’s books give great descriptions of life in the middle class for strivers between and after the War.
John Gould’s books and collected columns give a very interesting perspective of small town Northern New England.
Should all libraries carry them all? No, but they all should be available regionally so one can find the color and flavor of an era.
People who lose their history have no thought-texture or depth.
I would add Starship Troopers.
(Or The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress)
Yes I would add both. Good choices!
Yes he talked about that example in the book.
fascinating to realize how much our lives have been changed by the men who pioneered these concepts.
“We are moving much closer to Brave New World than to 1984.”
Our poor people are the most likely to be obese, something never recorded in history. They are also the most entertained poor people ever. Our eligible voter turnout hasn’t cracked 65% for even presidential elections for 100+ years. If we ever get true virtual reality a huge portion of the population will just drop out further.
Freegards
out on errands, back to check comments later.
Let’s Read Freepers.
As I wrote my post to you, I began to imagine how a shoe maker went about making shoes in those days. I have not read the book, but I do recall the author taking about the development of shoe lasts and the introduction of sizes. People varied in size before then, and of course went through different sizes as they grew to adulthood. How were these variations accommodated?
Did the shoemaker just eyeball different sizes based on proportions? It seems to me that some sort of standard patterns to trace outlines onto leather would have made the process easier. Or was it more the process of assembly rather than cutting out the parts that determined the fit?
Mostly, they made shoes to fit individuals, by order.
I’m sure they did for the wealthy but that’s not how the author described it. He spoke of bins full of shoes you rummaged through.
In the book Farmer Boy by Wilder, the author details how the cobbler traveled from farm to farm staying a week and making the annual shoes for the family. They were a prosperous family.
In cities there must have been a range of shoes available. I imagine that the savvy shoemaker would make most in the more normal sizes.
Our poor people are the most likely to be obese, something never recorded in history. They are also the most entertained poor people ever.
Crime offers a very exciting life. If you do not have much empathy for others, or have been taught that people outside your group are not valued, they simply become assets to be used/consumed.
Librarians were one of the first professions to be automated. The smarter ones saw it coming, and pivoted to become social justice warriors in order to keep their jobs.
My father was involved in a government funded program (LEEP, Library Education Experimental Project) to automate the traditional function of librarians. It was at about that time (the mid- to late-60s) that "librarian" began to be replaced with "library science."
I was very interested in computers at that time (I was in junior high school) and used the computers at my father's workplace after school and on weekends, and I met many of the graduate students and young assistant professors who were working on this project. In hindsight I've realized that they were all far, far leftists, at least as we would describe them today.
The profession was morphing from being dominated by gentle ladies who loved books, knowledge, and art, to being dominated by people who thought of themselves as being arbiters of what people — particularly young people — should learn and become aware of.
Lots of poor people went without shoes much of the time.
Lots of poor people likely made their own.
In Northern climes reasonably protective footgear was a necessity.
The Eskimos made excellent cold weather boots by hand, with very primitive gear.
One of the theories to explain the decrease in violent crime is the advent of violent/engaging electronic entertainment. I would also say that the increase in obesity has something to do with it.
Freegards
They captured a certain time in our country with great accuracy and vibrancy.
I don’t mean to belabor the point, but your comment seems to contradict what the author stated in the interview about rummaging through a bin to find two that fit. Or possibly I misunderstood him. It would stand to reason then that the shoemaker did make different sizes. Was it just that before the concept of precision that various examples of the “same size” varied so much that one fit and another didn’t. Was that the issue?
It seems to me that if a shoemaker, or tailor, or armorer could make items to fit, then there must have been some way for the craftsman to control the size. Then again maybe there was a lot of adjustment needed upon first fitting due to the lack of precision in the initial fabrication.
Perhaps it was simply a matter of not imagining standard sizes, instead of made to order. Or maybe wearable items are bad examples. It would make sense that the introduction of mechanical devices requiring interchangeable parts, like muskets, were the driver of precision.
One of the theories to explain the decrease in violent crime is the advent of violent/engaging electronic entertainment.
You see decreasing crime levels all around the Western world, with a few exceptions such as Brazil, Jamaica, and Mexico.
The decreasing levels of crime start in the mid 1990’s. They tend to level off for about a decade, then dropped some more after about 2008. There has been an uptic with the Ferguson effect and the attack on police.
You should consider adding the Mad Scientist’s Club books. :)
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