I wish education wasn't so split between "academic" and "vocational" (for lack of better terms).
In high school for my A levels I was able to take both Maths, Physics and Politics (with an academic focus) and Metalworking and Photography (with a more practical hands-on focus). I loved this, and feel like this was incredibly useful to me later in life.
But for some reason beyond school level you are mostly forced to choose between academics and hands-on work (at least in the UK). With the hands-on pathways being looked down on by much of society.
Because of reasons, my education was a vocational tech school. The fly-by-night type that sprang up in the 1980s, to suck at the teat of the GI Bill, and all those Vietnam vets (many of my classmates were vets).
It's long gone, now, but it taught me to be a good worker. They had dress codes, fixed, workday-long hours, little vacation, and behavioral rules.
By the time I graduated, I was able to immediately start working in a defense contractor's shop. When I went in, I was pretty much worthless to the workforce.
I know of folks that credit the military for similar structure.
There's a lot of things that I could have learned at Stanford or MIT (my parents wanted to send me there, but I insisted on paying my own way -see "reasons," above, and they probably would have passed on me anyway -"reasons").
I went back to university to study environmental science. After that, years later, I ended up starting a company designing closed loop food production systems, (well, semi-closed).
I designed and built it with friends, investors and colleagues. Very satisfying. (The fish farm has since the pictures been significantly upgraded.)
It’s absolutely the same in Germany. Trade people against academics. Luckily as an electrical engineer I can pick both tracks simultaneously. Many people are less lucky. The funny thing that self employed plumber or electrician can live way better than salaried worker with university diploma.
Is it looked down? It seems like a pretty relentless drumbeat from our media that everyone should be plumbers/electricians etc and not be going to university (except for the children of politicians and journalists who should continue going).
Purely coincidentally the people with those loud voices would benefit from cheaper tradesmen, their kids would have less competition and politically would benefit from a less tertiary educated population.
My father was a machinist for 25 years and then went into education and training for skilled trades, very much screamed about this for most my life. When I dropped out of college, he tried to get me to just enter an apprenticeship for a trade. It’ll be dirty, uncomfortable, sometimes painful, he said, but you’ll leave your work when you go home, and if you’re dedicated and half-good at it, you could eventually have your own business and crew before the physical stuff catches up to you. By then the lack of experienced tradesmen here will have turned into an crisis and I would be in an enviable spot. Here I am, 25 years later, worried I didn’t listen.
Hypothetically, I wonder how viable it is to switch to a vocation like electrician or HVAC in your 40s-50s.
My father is a retired mechanical engineer. About 10 or 12 years back he mentored some engineering students on their senior project. He said they were very smart, but had almost never touched a machine before which both frustrated and baffled him. In his day, engineers learned how to make the kinds of parts they designed because a design is a set of instructions to factory workers on how to make the part. If you knew nothing about tooling, tolerances, etc. you couldn't produce adequate designs, and the most valuable information came from actually working with the machines.
In 2025 making pancakes at school requires a written risk assessment / safety plan.
Health and safety regulation has exploded in the last 40 years and the liability gives administrators heart attacks. Many kids today are not even allowed to use kitchen knives let alone chisels or lathes.
It's not the fault of the kids, but the effects are somewhat self-fulfilling - kids who don't get access to even slightly dangerous things while growing up don't develop the skills and awareness they need to work safely as young adults.
I believe the same problem is present in software. The same things that make "physical" tools good are what make computer tools good. If you don't have any experience using physical tools, you won't be easily able to appreciate what using a good tool feels like. I think a lot of the problems in software--buggy, inefficient, over complicated, user hostile crap that most of it is--can be traced back to a misunderstanding of the concept of "creativity" or "innovation" rooted in simply not knowing where the guard rails are.
Go to a community college and get your certifications.
The problem is that the wages are way low starting out. That's why young people tend to do it. If you can swing the first three or four years, then start your own business, you'll be good.
The other hazard trades can be dangerous starting out until you work safely even on automatic when sleepless and zoning out. Learning rough carpentry cost me a broken leg, which healed slowly in my 30s and much worse in your 50s.
Larry Haun iirc even broke some bones in his first few years. It's a young man's game, getting over that well enough and fast enough to return to work without going bankrupt.
I'm glad the "heavy" part of this is not understated. The big iron is out there, surprisingly cheap, and it usually stays put for quite a while because it is a damn bitch to move. Tear down a wall, and put it back later. And make sure your floor won't cave in.
If you ever get yourself into serious hobby machining, get ready for the average density of all your possessions to double.
>Students may never pick up a tool again, but they will forever have the knowledge of how to make and evaluate things with your hand and your eye and appreciate the labor of others.
It's spelled "slöjd", and yes, kids in Nordic countries do it in primary school (grades 1-9 or thereabouts). It's not only woodworking, often alternating with textile work (sewing, crocheting etc.), and towards the higher grades there's usually some metal work, maybe a bit of soldering etc.
It's super cool to build things. I love talking to people at the makerspace. Lot's of people working on interesting projects. I can't imagine not having home ec either. I don't remember the teachers name, but I've made a quesadilla the same way since 5th grade.
Some tech skills are helpful too. I typically CAD projects so I know what size lumber and cuts need to be made.
I'm split on the topic. I think there is value in working with your hands on a service basis, but don't believe in trying to build things.
My father was a farmer for 40 years and built a business that was supposed to be his retirement. Then the government eminent domained his water rights without any compensation, destroying his life's work, and leaving him and all the other farmers in the area high and dry.
Now I don't build anything that isnt cashed out immediately.
May I ask which region this happened in? Building things is the powerhouse of societal innovation and if you live in a democratic country, you can vote out bad policy!
The funny thing about democracies is other votes count too. 99% of the population is happy with the outcome because they get more water water and don't have any person rights they feel are put at risk.
I'm guessing the state figured most of the farmers in their 60s can't afford legal challenge when there primary financial assets were cut out from under them and if they do, it can be tied up in the courts until most of them die. That's how it seems to be playing out anyways.
More and more the majority has discovered they can vote themselves into someone else's pocket. City dwellers can also horde water aquifers, and since they don't have the firsthand experience of drilling a $30,000 well they're oblivious as to how they ruin others.
Before the fall of Techshop, they offered me a setup where I could take all of the classes I wanted in three months. Muhahahahaha.
I already had a few advantages going in: a year of drafting in high school, a year of computer drafting in college (mind you the tools were long dead); the ability to think in parametrics; courses in engineering to go with my physics degree; and just being a general geek. Like a maniac, I took all but one class they offered.
Probably one of the happiest times of my life, scampering around the shop and churning out trinkets for friends and family, making weird art projects for myself.
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In high school for my A levels I was able to take both Maths, Physics and Politics (with an academic focus) and Metalworking and Photography (with a more practical hands-on focus). I loved this, and feel like this was incredibly useful to me later in life.
But for some reason beyond school level you are mostly forced to choose between academics and hands-on work (at least in the UK). With the hands-on pathways being looked down on by much of society.
It's long gone, now, but it taught me to be a good worker. They had dress codes, fixed, workday-long hours, little vacation, and behavioral rules.
By the time I graduated, I was able to immediately start working in a defense contractor's shop. When I went in, I was pretty much worthless to the workforce.
I know of folks that credit the military for similar structure.
There's a lot of things that I could have learned at Stanford or MIT (my parents wanted to send me there, but I insisted on paying my own way -see "reasons," above, and they probably would have passed on me anyway -"reasons").
Did OK.
I designed and built it with friends, investors and colleagues. Very satisfying. (The fish farm has since the pictures been significantly upgraded.)
https://cirkularodling.se/build-an-aquaponic-indoor-farm-par...
Purely coincidentally the people with those loud voices would benefit from cheaper tradesmen, their kids would have less competition and politically would benefit from a less tertiary educated population.
Hypothetically, I wonder how viable it is to switch to a vocation like electrician or HVAC in your 40s-50s.
Health and safety regulation has exploded in the last 40 years and the liability gives administrators heart attacks. Many kids today are not even allowed to use kitchen knives let alone chisels or lathes.
It's not the fault of the kids, but the effects are somewhat self-fulfilling - kids who don't get access to even slightly dangerous things while growing up don't develop the skills and awareness they need to work safely as young adults.
The problem is that the wages are way low starting out. That's why young people tend to do it. If you can swing the first three or four years, then start your own business, you'll be good.
Larry Haun iirc even broke some bones in his first few years. It's a young man's game, getting over that well enough and fast enough to return to work without going bankrupt.
Deleted Comment
If you ever get yourself into serious hobby machining, get ready for the average density of all your possessions to double.
https://rainfordrestorations.com/2013/06/04/traditional-sloy...
>Students may never pick up a tool again, but they will forever have the knowledge of how to make and evaluate things with your hand and your eye and appreciate the labor of others.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloyd
Some tech skills are helpful too. I typically CAD projects so I know what size lumber and cuts need to be made.
My father was a farmer for 40 years and built a business that was supposed to be his retirement. Then the government eminent domained his water rights without any compensation, destroying his life's work, and leaving him and all the other farmers in the area high and dry.
Now I don't build anything that isnt cashed out immediately.
The funny thing about democracies is other votes count too. 99% of the population is happy with the outcome because they get more water water and don't have any person rights they feel are put at risk.
I'm guessing the state figured most of the farmers in their 60s can't afford legal challenge when there primary financial assets were cut out from under them and if they do, it can be tied up in the courts until most of them die. That's how it seems to be playing out anyways.
I already had a few advantages going in: a year of drafting in high school, a year of computer drafting in college (mind you the tools were long dead); the ability to think in parametrics; courses in engineering to go with my physics degree; and just being a general geek. Like a maniac, I took all but one class they offered.
Probably one of the happiest times of my life, scampering around the shop and churning out trinkets for friends and family, making weird art projects for myself.