Do you know how your iPod works? Do you care?
Asked by
arnbev959 (
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January 21st, 2009
Inspired by this question.
I’ve noticed that old books, especially children’s books, focus a lot on how the new technologies of the day worked. I’ve seen a few books from the late fifties dealing with how space shuttles, especially, work. And others dealing with radios, and other such things.
And when I’m around my grandpa I notice how many things I don’t know about the way things work, because he asks about them. On Saturday he asked me how I thought they get the bubbles in the soda, and why the soda doesn’t go flat if it’s in an unopened bottle, but if you open it up it goes flat really quickly. And he sat there and puzzled over it. And then he started talking about how they close the soup can once the soup is in it.
And he’s asked about how pianos work, and opened up his piano to find out.
And he’s wondered how the refrigerator works.
And how the vacuum cleaner works.
And (he’s 89 years old; I guess this wasn’t taught in schools in the 30s.) he’s wondered why the seasons change, and he was intrigued when I told him. (He had thought it had to do with pressure in the atmosphere.)
Nowadays though it seems like there’s less knowledge of how the world works, and less desire to learn. I feel like most people I know hold the view that they simply don’t need to know how their microwave oven works, and they couldn’t care less.
Have we lost our curiosity for how the world around us works? Why is it that older people, and older books tend to focus on these things more than younger people and newer books? What was different in my grandpa’s time that cause him and other older people to have this curiosity that isn’t seen very often today?
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11 Answers
I don’t think we’ve lost our curiosity, but that the advance of technology is just too overwhelming. Scientific discovery and invention follow a parabolic curve, and more and more new consumer technology is created. It’s just not feasible to learn about everything we use.
But some people are still interested in that stuff. I spent 2 hours learning about how flash memory works yesterday. Flashinating.
Edit: Also, our culture values newness and disposability, so we don’t really need to know how things work. If they break, buy a new one. You probably don’t have the tools to fix it anyway. I’m not endorsing this view, but it’s impossible to not notice that Apple releases a new iPod every 6 months.
This is addressed briefly* in the book Anathem. Basically, the more advanced technology gets, the less likely an average person is going to be able to understand it.
* (well, I’m only half way through, so it might come up again)
I know how my iPod works and how computers work, but that’s because I’m curious about it and will make the time to find out. I’m just nosy.
There’s books about technology and science available for young people, but it’s up to the parents to buy them and get their children interested.
I want your Gramps. He is awesome.
I wouldn’t mind knowing, I actually am curious. I don’t know how I would figure it out though. I mean I have been in the diagnostics for my nano… that’s fun.. learned alot.
I personally haven’t lost the ‘how things work’ mentality. I am all about how things work. Maybe that’s why I’m proficient with computers. I just keep digging and figuring out how and why it works.
My children will have technology at their figure tips to pull apart, break, fix, and tamper with. I will encourage them to figure out how it works. They will not be simply ‘users’ ... they will be ‘understanders’ if that works and makes sense
Your grandpa would probably dig
this show called How It’s Made.
I love that show! Love, love, love.
I am endlessly curious and have gotten into a good deal of trouble
by believing that taking things apart helps you learn how to put them together.
It’s a wonder that I haven’t won some Darwin Award along the way.
Since I was five, my grandfather has filled me with the urge to build and discover how everything around me works. Thanks to him, I am one of the most curious and inqusitive people you’ll meet (and I’m also pretty smart).
I love learning how every little gadget and gizmo works, what makes it tick, and how it was built.
I love my grandpa!
@Nimis…lurve for How it’s Made . I’m watching how they make steel drums.
each one takes 120 hrs. to make
@Nimis – I saw the one yesterday on how they make Major League-approved baseballs! Each one is hand stitched! What a great show.
i’m definitely curious about how a lot of things work, but i don’t think i’d actually want to know a lot of things. especially pertaining to technology. as much as i should want to actually know since technology is so abundant now and 99.9% will be in the future too, i just. i don’t know. maybe a quick brief would be nice to know, but as for thorough detail, i think i’d find that i would quickly lose interest. i’d rather learn about the seasons than how exactly ipod’s make that clicky noise when you turn the wheel.
Is your grandpa a pothead too?
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