Different strokes for different folks

[Growley bear]

Originally Posted by BRENT in 10-uh-C

Based on my own experiences here in the States, the visual learning gives the confidence to begin a project however common sense is usually lacking soon thereafter. In my line of work I get a ton of e-mail & phone calls asking how to do a task on their Model-A. There are generally two common denominators in these situations with one being they have watched or read something on-line, ...and they lack reasoning skills to figure it out on their own. Imagine receiving a call wanting to take a wheel off but they are unsure which direction to twist the lug nut. If you ask them which way they have tried, they tell you both ways but the more you talk with them, you soon realize they really haven't tried either direction and they are calling because they don't want to screw it up and they read that some old cars had lug nuts that twisted off differently.

The next issue that is commonplace in which we are seeing in the workforce here is people lack the motor skills to get their fingers to do what their brain is telling them. There are WAY more skills needed to do a task correctly than can be learned watching a video. Folks can watch every TIG welding video on YouTube and still lack the ability to strike an arc successfully. It takes years of experience (-starting as a kid) to master eye-to-brain-to-hand skills. It takes those same skills to know how to drive a nail when building a house. YouTube videos can show the mechanics of driving that nail, but they cannot teach the person how to hit the head of the nail repeatedly.

The skills that have taken some of us a lifetime to learn are treated as very insignificant by many people. Case in point; My son in law had the differential in his Ford F-150 rebuilt and couldn't understand why it only lasted 4000 miles. Turns out his uncle used a rattle wrench to set the pinion bearing preload among other things. While talking to the kid, his attitude is that his uncle is a computer guru and knows all about computers therefore he knows all about automotive technology by osmosis. The man has never worked in an auto repair field or had any kind of training.
I read your post about social media; I don't have the stomach for that STUFF.
Chet