I define “hands on” as creating a three dimensional work of art rather than “hands on” referring to typing in a computer workshop. The other day we ended class with professor Phillips discussing how manual labor has shifted from an art to an underpaid tedious job. I personally love working with my hands and one of the tremendous downsides to the recent technological innovations is the increasing under appreciation for occupations that deal with working with ones hands. Contractors and carpenters are prime examples of jobs that were once an enjoyable art form that have turned to a single leader paying impoverished employees (normally immigrants) under minimum wage to execute simple tedious instructions. Ive always enjoyed hands on work and wish I could find a respectable and profitable job that deals with the creation of some type of art through my hands. A literary influence to this mindset came from this book about why working with one’s hands leads to happiness. It describes the happiness one can acquire through creativity and self accomplishment through fixing things. The author then explains how skilled manual labor may be one of the only options remaining to a good living. Im sure there are numerous jobs that result with a happy living that do not require manual labor but i do wish to explore these types of options in the future.
I agree that in the present day “work with hands” is very unappreciated and in place of it work on computers or desk jobs are a lot more appreciated. This is another example that technology is taking over like we have been talking about with the ebooks.
I like this idea of “hands-on.” Over Summer I tend to work at a summer camp (which I attended myself when I was younger) as a woodshop counselor. Aside from working with kids and teaching them to build with wood (along with witnessing the amazing masterpieces that their minds can come up with), with my free time I also like to work on my own projects. There are times when I’ve needed things, such as small side tables, and while I could easily go out and buy a factory made one, it feels much more satisfying (and not to mention cheaper) to have one and be able to say “I used my own hands to build that.”
I agree with your idea of hands on. I think it is interesting to see how our society has turned the definition of hands on into a person (like the contractor you described) who just tells everyone what to do all the time. The interesting part of this is we/ our society are the ones who created this new definition of hands on and it is kind of sad to look at in the long run.