The creative process, I'm worried about it.

[Fred.Rowe]

A terabyte contains 1,024 gigabytes of information. The laptop I am typing this on holds 1 terabyte of information in all forms. Photos and text of things I've built over the last 25 years.
At the touch of a key, any thing a person might want to see or read about is there to be had. Anything! It's on the cloud.
My question is this; with all this information at hand, why go to the effort of being creative. Why not just look it up and follow along.
When I got a model car for my birthdays in the mid 50's; when I opened the box the first thing I did was throw away the instructions and then put the car together as I was inspired to. Mid engine in a 55 Chevy Nomad, chopped top and narrowed rear end. Damn the instructions. I didn't want to be told how to put it together, I wanted to turn lose my creative mind.
When Russia put the Sputnik into space in 1957, my friend John and I were in his basement making a rocket along with the needed solid fuel, within a week. We created. We took what we learned in school and we bounced ideas off each other until we came up with a working hypotheses. This was where the joy came from, being creative. Coming up with something no one else had done, at least in our minds. We carried a full size 12 volt car battery a 1/2 mile so it could be used to heat the coil we made to ignite the rocket fuel. It was all part of the fun.
In the end, we found, launching the rocket was not where the thrill lay; it was in creating something out of nothing. I still feel that thrill today when I come up with a knife design on my own. No pictures, no cloud, no phone.

What bothers me today is with all the information available on line and with younger people being indoctrinated into accessing this information; why go through the creative process? Why not just copy and paste an already established idea.
Are we going to get to a point where being creative, for the joy of being creative is something that is thought of as passe and not worth the effort?

Where are we headed?

Regards, Fred

 

[lanternnate]

Glass half full version: The information gives the opportunity to stand on the shoulders of giants. The information and knowledge of what has been done before speeds the process of bringing someone to a level of understanding where their creativity can be unleashed on the next thing. The bubble jig I would assume is greatly based on your experience making knives, but you also took advantage of pulling in creativity and invention that came before you from the belt grinder to the bubble level. It took your creativity to put all the pieces together, but access to the knowledge that came before you was a crucial component. Now, your knowledge and information can serve as a jumping off point for something else great.

 

[javand]

Glass half full version: The information gives the opportunity to stand on the shoulders of giants. The information and knowledge of what has been done before speeds the process of bringing someone to a level of understanding where their creativity can be unleashed on the next thing. The bubble jig I would assume is greatly based on your experience making knives, but you also took advantage of pulling in creativity and invention that came before you from the belt grinder to the bubble level. It took your creativity to put all the pieces together, but access to the knowledge that came before you was a crucial component. Now, your knowledge and information can serve as a jumping off point for something else great.

I don't think Fred is trying to say that the information shouldn't be out there, or that his successful ideas didn't benefit from the efforts of people that came before him. I think, and it's a sentiment I share, his concern is that too many people, especially younger people that grew up never knowing a world without the internet, take the information available to them, and the effort it took for many of us to learn processes before the availability of such, for granted. On top of which, there's seemingly progressing momentum towards the entitlement, to the fruits of other's labor. Very few of us would refuse to help anyone that clearly cared about this craft, but to have that help be expected, with zero thanks, or demanded, fundamentally puts many of us in opposition toward whomever feel so entitled.

It's pretty clearly a consideration, that this is a cultural trend, and it's important to discuss it, if we want to change it for the better. It's one of the reasons why I harp on and on about my philosophy toward this art, and why I'm careful to try and give credit where due, to the people that helped get me where I am, and whom have shared techniques, that they developed, the "long, hard way".

Daily do I see information repeated here by people in an almost reverent fervor, that it's clear they've never utilized, or perhaps, tried once tinkering at making knives. There's little deference to knowledge and experience, and it's not uncommon for anyone offering a alternative method to be challenged, if there isn't a video on youtube by some arm-chair-maker/social media star, showing it done that way. We've run tons of master cutlers off these boards over the years with that attitude.

I've personally proliferated techniques here and elsewhere, that either I discovered, or was taught by some maker that has barely set foot on the internet, or was chased off when they tried to help, who won't ever be back. Each time, I've had to work my ass off, to talk people into considering these things as an option, even when I know first hand and extensively the validity of those techniques, through persistent use of them, and having compared the mainstream methods, through practice. Once I've talked the world into it, I'm likely to see some new maker touting is as part of his "hype", often as his own epiphany.


It's a greater symptom of herd mentality, stemming from the same component of social culture that makes people feel good about themselves for piling on as a mob, toward some "social justice", where with marginal if any first hand knowledge, someone is lambasted, for some situation, potentially taken out of context, or outright incorrect. People want to feel they're "right", and smug in the belief that they've got it more "figured out" than the next person.



The solution however, is a simple one; we all decide, and make an effort, to promoting thought, consideration, cautious optimism and skepticism about this thing we all love. Call each other out for being absolutist, or dogmatic, and discourage the practice of acting like an expert on something you've barely pulled off, let alone perfect. In order to do that, we have to continue to develop an inviting culture or participation, where it's alright to not know everything, and all of us get over our own little ego trips, and insecurities, when it comes to wanting to be better than we are.

It's ok to not know everything, and say so. You can help even if you don't have the answers, by simply qualifying a response, with a disclaimer of honesty; i.e. "I haven't actually tried this myself, but I heard X is a possible method of doing Y", or "I tried this once, and it worked ok", or "So and so, whom I respect as a maker, told me, or showed me; this." As opposed to saying "This is how you're supposed to do X", or "Such and such great maker whom everyone know is clearly God incarnate does it like X, so therefor, any mention of anything else is sacrilege".

I also think we need to encourage people to be open about where they learned what they learned. I've seen so many people jack a design without any credit (I've never had another maker refuse to let me copy a design or element, and most of the time, they'll send me a pattern if I ask.), or copy a tool or technique, acting like they just fell off the toilet and magically thought it up at the same time, as someone else posted about it. Why? Give credit where it's due, it doesn't detract from your accomplishment.

No maker, unless they live in a cave, off-grid, with access to internet or books, is "Self Taught" I'm sorry, that's a huberistic and egocentric fantasy. Any attempt to claim such, just proves you're an insecure asshole. Sorry. We are not in direct competition with each other, when any of us progresses or excels, it benefits every one of us in this art. That is not a cry toward socialist ideals, the very nature of our art now that each of us has to wear so many hats to do good work, compared with centuries past, is that it's individualistic, we live or die on our own merit, but regardless, we share this craft, and are "in it together", however indirectly.

 

[javand]

To be clear, I'm not saying this is a "new" phenomenon, or the fault of the internet, or that it's exclusive only millennials or any specific generation. This sort of thing has been going on forever, but before the public information became so convenient, at least there was a filter, a "barrier to entry" that kept less willed people from every getting deep enough into the trade to be a problem.

As with anything, technological advancement comes with it's benefits, and drawbacks.

 

[Randy3000]

There was a study done where kids where asked to draw bird. They drew typical kid misshapened birds that had wings, beak, feet, eyes, etc. Then the kids were given coloring books depicting beach scenes, and in these books birds are V shaped black marks and nothing more. After a month or so the kids were asked to draw a bird and almost all of them drew a V.

The researchers concluded that coloring books resulted in a loss of creativity. I read another argument where the kids probably learned abstraction for the first time and didnt know yet suitable situations to use abstraction (a V bird may be fine if the bird isnt the focus of the drawing, but if the bird is the focus you should probably do more than a single pen stroke).

It isnt too hard to find things kids pick up and do or say over and over and over and over, that without that influence they would never pick up. Hopefully, washing hands and saying thank you are two of them. Indeed, it is human nature to follow trends. But it is also human nature to break customs.

I petsonally make old, traditional patterns. There is nothing wrong with classic. The tacticool phase will be with us for a long time. I like the work of the fantasy blade smiths but i really dont see myself using such blades ever and personally dont make them. It is amazing to me that people can still be creative in the art of bladesmithing, one of the oldest tools used by mankind.

 

[ren01228]

Very true, there are pros and cons to everything. I’m only 21, so I can’t speak much on what life was like before, but the Internet makes it so easy to learn new things. Gives me the confidence to do pretty much anything on my own, knowing if I need to I can fall back on the Internet and quickly find a solution. It’s great for things where you don’t want to take risks, like motorcycle maintenance, but I can see how it would kill creativity for other things.

I think there’s always going to be that desire to be your own person/do your own thing though, and that’s where the creativity comes from.

What I am worried about is kids not really having as many opportunities to be creative, with smart phones and video games being so prevalent. I’m just glad me and my buddies didn’t get smartphones when we were still in elementary school...

 

[AntCaps]

I think the truly creative will still make strides to be unique. Its the negativity I see so often online that i'm concerned about. It seems like whenever someone shows something unique they have come up with so many people are all too eager to (pardon my french) shit on it.

 

[AVigil]

People are more creative around the world then probably at any other time in history. We live in an age of wonder and it is not due to the lack of creativity.

When you get in your car and turn the key or push the button, some old timer is complaining how easy you have it, you do not have to hand crank the engine, you have power steering, power brakes and heat ass warmer in your car.

The fact we do not have to worry about some things anymore allows us more time to create

 

[Brock Cutlery]

People are more creative around the world then probably at any other time in history. We live in an age of wonder and it is not due to the lack of creativity.
When you get in your car and turn the key or push the button, some old timer is complaining how easy you have it, you do not have to hand crank the engine, you have power steering, power brakes and heat ass warmer in your car.
The fact we do not have to worry about some things anymore allows us more time to create

You are right with that last part Adam, it has been true many times throughout history. At the height of each civilization, art became something pretty great. When folks have to worry every minute about ensuring they will have food at the next meal their creativity is spent in that pursuit.

I think in general though, most folks aren't overly creative. It is a more rare trait and has to do with many personality factors coming together in the right place at the right time.
There are some who will always be creative, as they can't be anything else. Others just do as they see.

If I had a fear about the internet it is that the games and other similar online pursuits are pseudo-life and rob some of real life experience.
If one were religiously inclined these might be considered akin to a counterfeit of life. A waste.
But as Solomon said, there is nothing new under the sun. It's the same old stuff, the same old struggle. The internet just lets us do the same stuff faster and more easily, whether it be meaningless or life enhancing.
I am glad to have it around, but there are a lot of eggs in that basket....

 

[lanternnate]

I don't think Fred is trying to say that the information shouldn't be out there, or that his successful ideas didn't benefit from the efforts of people that came before him. I think, and it's a sentiment I share, his concern is that too many people, especially younger people that grew up never knowing a world without the internet, take the information available to them, and the effort it took for many of us to learn processes before the availability of such, for granted. On top of which, there's seemingly progressing momentum towards the entitlement, to the fruits of other's labor. Very few of us would refuse to help anyone that clearly cared about this craft, but to have that help be expected, with zero thanks, or demanded, fundamentally puts many of us in opposition toward whomever feel so entitled.

It's pretty clearly a consideration, that this is a cultural trend, and it's important to discuss it, if we want to change it for the better. It's one of the reasons why I harp on and on about my philosophy toward this art, and why I'm careful to try and give credit where due, to the people that helped get me where I am, and whom have shared techniques, that they developed, the "long, hard way".

Daily do I see information repeated here by people in an almost reverent fervor, that it's clear they've never utilized, or perhaps, tried once tinkering at making knives. There's little deference to knowledge and experience, and it's not uncommon for anyone offering a alternative method to be challenged, if there isn't a video on youtube by some arm-chair-maker/social media star, showing it done that way. We've run tons of master cutlers off these boards over the years with that attitude.

I've personally proliferated techniques here and elsewhere, that either I discovered, or was taught by some maker that has barely set foot on the internet, or was chased off when they tried to help, who won't ever be back. Each time, I've had to work my ass off, to talk people into considering these things as an option, even when I know first hand and extensively the validity of those techniques, through persistent use of them, and having compared the mainstream methods, through practice. Once I've talked the world into it, I'm likely to see some new maker touting is as part of his "hype", often as his own epiphany.


It's a greater symptom of herd mentality, stemming from the same component of social culture that makes people feel good about themselves for piling on as a mob, toward some "social justice", where with marginal if any first hand knowledge, someone is lambasted, for some situation, potentially taken out of context, or outright incorrect. People want to feel they're "right", and smug in the belief that they've got it more "figured out" than the next person.



The solution however, is a simple one; we all decide, and make an effort, to promoting thought, consideration, cautious optimism and skepticism about this thing we all love. Call each other out for being absolutist, or dogmatic, and discourage the practice of acting like an expert on something you've barely pulled off, let alone perfect. In order to do that, we have to continue to develop an inviting culture or participation, where it's alright to not know everything, and all of us get over our own little ego trips, and insecurities, when it comes to wanting to be better than we are.

It's ok to not know everything, and say so. You can help even if you don't have the answers, by simply qualifying a response, with a disclaimer of honesty; i.e. "I haven't actually tried this myself, but I heard X is a possible method of doing Y", or "I tried this once, and it worked ok", or "So and so, whom I respect as a maker, told me, or showed me; this." As opposed to saying "This is how you're supposed to do X", or "Such and such great maker whom everyone know is clearly God incarnate does it like X, so therefor, any mention of anything else is sacrilege".

I also think we need to encourage people to be open about where they learned what they learned. I've seen so many people jack a design without any credit (I've never had another maker refuse to let me copy a design or element, and most of the time, they'll send me a pattern if I ask.), or copy a tool or technique, acting like they just fell off the toilet and magically thought it up at the same time, as someone else posted about it. Why? Give credit where it's due, it doesn't detract from your accomplishment.

No maker, unless they live in a cave, off-grid, with access to internet or books, is "Self Taught" I'm sorry, that's a huberistic and egocentric fantasy. Any attempt to claim such, just proves you're an insecure asshole. Sorry. We are not in direct competition with each other, when any of us progresses or excels, it benefits every one of us in this art. That is not a cry toward socialist ideals, the very nature of our art now that each of us has to wear so many hats to do good work, compared with centuries past, is that it's individualistic, we live or die on our own merit, but regardless, we share this craft, and are "in it together", however indirectly.

So has said every generation about the next Part of it comes from the fact that the success of one generation has made life in some ways easier for the next, and down to the best of us that doesn’t come without some envy. I look at all my kids have to play with and say “when I was a kid we were happy to run around the woods with sticks.” But my father probably looked at me running around playing remembering he had to finish all the chores on the farm first. I don’t even want to imagine what my grandfather who grew up during the depression cutting ice from the lake while he had tuberculosis would think.

There’s also the fact that the next generation is young, and when you are young you are a bit foolish and less appreciative. Maybe all here matured sooner than others, but let’s at least admit you know your peers were immature while you were growing up. Eventually life gives you enough perspective you might be foolish at least on fewer occasions, and you certainly start to appreciate things in life more ESPECIALLY the people in life. At the point you’re perhaps more humble and more thankful. Maybe the internet has given more ability for these cross generational interactions to occur, but I don’t think it’s necessarily the root of this phenomenon known as life. Give it time and these ungrateful little snots will be rocking on the porch yelling at kids to get out of their strawberry patch too.

 

[Robert Erickson]

Fred, I don't know you personally but have your bubble jig system which I found quite innovative. You seem to have the gift of creativity/innovation. It doesn't surprise me that you threw away the instructions of the model car you got in the 50's. It's evidenced in that you've come up with two innovative devises (that I'm aware of)
However, there were kids in the 50's that could barely put the car together even with the instructions. They went on to do jobs where innovation and creativity weren't required. Not to take away from their gifts in any way, they're just wired differently.
It's the same today. I believe that there will always be those that create and those that follow. I see that there are knifemakers that still come up with innovative designs and unique ways of doing things.

I will agree that the internet has made life much less personal. Back in the day you learned directly from an expert and a relationship was formed. You only sold knives at shows where you had to interact with your potential customers. Now you can learn how to make something and then sell it on line and never talk to a single person. I do think this is lamentable and Lord know how to solve it.
Anyway that's just my 2 cents.

 

[kuraki]

It's because kids don't learn cursive anymore, gol'dangit.

 

[Mitchell Knives]

I think that the abundance of readily available information on essentially any topic spurs creativity.

When you start researching how others have gone about particular tasks, the information you learn can be used to develop your own technique or process.

 

[javand]

So has said every generation about the next Part of it comes from the fact that the success of one generation has made life in some ways easier for the next, and down to the best of us that doesn’t come without some envy. I look at all my kids have to play with and say “when I was a kid we were happy to run around the woods with sticks.” But my father probably looked at me running around playing remembering he had to finish all the chores on the farm first. I don’t even want to imagine what my grandfather who grew up during the depression cutting ice from the lake while he had tuberculosis would think.

There’s also the fact that the next generation is young, and when you are young you are a bit foolish and less appreciative. Maybe all here matured sooner than others, but let’s at least admit you know your peers were immature while you were growing up. Eventually life gives you enough perspective you might be foolish at least on fewer occasions, and you certainly start to appreciate things in life more ESPECIALLY the people in life. At the point you’re perhaps more humble and more thankful. Maybe the internet has given more ability for these cross generational interactions to occur, but I don’t think it’s necessarily the root of this phenomenon known as life. Give it time and these ungrateful little snots will be rocking on the porch yelling at kids to get out of their strawberry patch too.

I'm not saying otherwise, and fwiw, I'm not some old curmudgeon bemoaning "the good 'ol days", I'm in my mid 30's, and "technically" I fall into the millennial generation block, albeit, early. There is definitely a nostalgic romanticism to consider, and yes, every generation group probably thinks the next have it too easy or don't appreciate their advantages.

It doesn't mean there's not legitimate room for constructive criticism, and that we shouldn't make efforts to steer the culture of *our* art, to be as good as it can be. I agree with other posters, that most people were never really that "creative" by default. Certainly the past is romanticized in this way, when it fact, what we call creativity, was in fact, more likely ingenuity, brought on by necessity, in many cases.

It's clear through history, as some have alluded, that the heights of classical artistic creativity, have ebbed and flowed, and been intrinsically tied to various broad cultural conditions or trends.

I'm not really concerned with the "loss of the creative" process as Fred put it, but I am concerned with a loss of respect for the history and tradition of our trade, and understanding how rich it is. I do not however, say this to promote a deference to it(anybody that knows me knows that I'm staunchly against overt traditionalism); just that we should hold ourselves to a higher standard, and honestly appreciate the fact that the chance of "innovating" in this space is marginal, it doesn't mean we shouldn't try, but it doesn't do any service to the art on a whole, if that's the point. This is arguably the "oldest" art or trade humans have ever practiced, learning the old slow way, either via analog information sources, or through trial and error, makes it impossible not to have a deep respect for the legacy of knifemaking on a whole. I don't see much of that anymore from people that think they're "self taught" because they managed to repeat what they saw on youtube, and living in a bubble, never interacting with anyone besides other bubble dwellers, makes them oblivious to how little they know.

It's the reason why educators have to constantly insist that their students "don't use or defer to wikipedia", and proof all papers for plagiarism of such. It's not that the internet isn't a great resource, it's simply not the arbiter of all truths, or the source of all answers.




On the other hand, the accelerated dissemination of information, has clearly, pushed modern custom knifemaking, to new heights, after a clear decline, of nearly a century from the Golden Age, during the 19th, and early 20th centuries, but lets not kid ourselves, anybody that thinks we're at the pinnacle of the art currently, I recommend you browse through a copy of "Sheffield Exhibition Knives", and find some humility.


I'll also end by making a note, for perspective's sake. I'm about as far from a Luddite as it gets, my background is in advanced computing, and I designed systems and built infrastructure in the late 90's which helped to shape what the internet, and mobile communications are now, for instance, designing fault tolerant server clusters(the technology that powers most large hosting companies; AKA what all the websites are run on), and for companies responsible for sms and mms technology. I honestly believed we were going to make everyone "free" through the availability of information and usher in some golden age of noble pursuit. LOL, yep, I clearly overestimated society. I got out of that industry, in search of something "fundamental", and I found it in this craft we're all drawn to, and yes, I'm passionately defensive of it.

 

[i4Marc]

The creative process is as unique as the individual. The view of what is creative changes with the perspective of the viewer. But I do believe creativity has been suffering. It is absolutely true that many people have benefited from the hard work, research and experimentation of others. I am certainly one of those people. Who among us has seen an enlightening video, read a book, spoken with someone more skilled and said "no thank you, I'll figure it out myself no matter how long it takes"? Anyone? Before the internet and You Tube ( I love You Tube) people had to read books. It probably took you some time to finish the book so you knew where you got the information. These days you can watch dozens of videos a day. It's not always easy to give credit to the source of the information. We consume information so quickly now that it's hard enough to retain the information much less the source.

But we can't just blame the internet. There are many reasons that creativity is suffering. Kids getting smartphones practically as soon as they can walk; less parental involvement in children's lives; increasing narcissism; the omnipresence of technology; more time spent working rather than playing/being involved with hobbies; couch potatoitis, all of these things and more are killing creativity. When I was a kid my friends an I would play games in the street or on a buddy's lawn. I'd play with action figures in the backyard, build forts and clubhouses, customize my bike, build models, draw and paint and lots of other things that were normal for kids in those times. My mind was always busy. These days I look at not just kids but adults as well and they spend 24 hours a day staring into their smart devices. I have had people give me the most confused looks when they find out I have "hobbies".

That said, there are still creative people out there. Creativity will always manifest itself somehow if it is present in an individual. What gets me though is how obviously talented and creative people will do the least creative thing, like some makers that just make copies of well known knife patterns. I know why they do it. It sells. I get it. But with that kind of skill they could be making a name for their own designs. Maybe there is a difference between skilled and creative.

 

[Tenebr0s]

Creativity will never be wiped out. There will always be people who simply regurgitate what they’ve read, seen, or heard, but anybody who is sincerely engaging in the craft will eventually find their own “voice” so to speak.

I’m an American, and so my views of creativity are quite different from that of the Japanese. However, I do greatly respect their view of it in the arts, and I think it’s relevant to this discussion. For someone studying a craft here, there is understood to be a process called shu-ha-ri 守破離. The “shu” means “protect” and is always the first stage. You faithfully protect and reproduce the style of your teacher. It’s mastery through imitation. In time, you arrive at the “ha” stage, which means to destroy or break down. Having gained technical preficiency, you begin to be able to analyze why your teacher does things the way he does. You see the method behind it all. Finally, having mastered this, you arrive at the “ri” stage, which means breaking away from or separating. You now are free to find your own voice. You have total creativity - but it is the creativity of a master, not an amateur.

If we as a society have more examples to imitate (as long as they’re GOOD examples!) I don’t see it as a bad thing. New makers who are putting in the time and thought will eventually find their own style, even if they imitate for a long while. Still, I think there is always a place for the innocent creativity of childhood, and I would be lying if I said that wasn’t a big part of my process and the enjoyment of making knives.

 

[bike4fun919 OpbunchKnives]

This is an interesting topic. As with any skill or trade there has to be a lineage of what came before. Creativity, to me, is very indivaulized. I’ve seen a lot of ‘custom’ made knives that may only appeal to a small segment of followers. These same creative custom knives are sometimes critiqued as being ‘rough’ or not refined.
When I look at the for sale sale section of this forum i’m amazed at the creativity of the makers.
With that being said there is certainly a difference between creativity and copying. I think you will always have both, just as it has been from the beginning.

 

[probrwr]

Honestly IMHO it is because we no longer teach. I am early 50's and when I was in High school we had Horticulture, Auto Mechanics, Welding, Wood shop, Electronics and computer classes. Now I bet you would be hard pressed to find those in many city schools, I have lived all over the country and in a couple different countries and my residence in SW VA has opened my eyes up to the differences in the cultural mentality of children in the city vs the country.

Please don't take this as a be all end all treatise that city kids are a waste! There are many that will find the trades but when was the last time you met a Master Plumber & Master Gas Fitter that was 30? I know one out here. Kids that grow up with space around them learn to get dirty at an early age. Kids that grow up without that space learn to turn to electronics for entertainment. I have two children who are the products of that. The oldest was an ADHD kid and I quickly learned that he needed things to do with his hands so I taught him tradesman type skills. I made both of them learn to change tires and change oil and spark plugs. Not so they had to do them, but so they new HOW.

I find the community here interesting because this is absolutely a "get your hands dirty" type of skill. The younger crowd that comes in to learn from the older crowd (and me as an older person that wants to learn something new) is refreshing!

 

[weo]

Hello all. I'm going to take this down a slightly different path. I see the positives of the differing above views, but my overall emotion about this topic has me leaning to the negative part. The first example that came to my mind is mathematics. I remember when calculators weren't allowed during exams. Now I think we can all agree that calculators are huge improvement over slide rules, but we at least learned the principles/mechanics of algebra, geometry, trigonometry, etc. Where this is necessary, and what "kids these days" are lacking (IMO), is that the reliance on technology has allowed them to skip the "learning how" part and only those who know how to figure things out without access to computer technology are able to be truly creative.

Another benefit to creativity is the ability to fix things and be self-reliant. A number of years ago I lost my brakes on a Sunday evening and was able to go to work the next day because I was able to forge and fabricate the part needed instead of having to wait for the parts store to open in the morning. In fact, I'm currently having to make a stick shift lever because the cheap one (well I guess it has lasted 418000 miles) that came with the truck broke yesterday.

What has me concerned is what are our kids going to do when our infrastructure fails due to the lack of maintenance, inability to keep up with planetary environmental changes, or malicious acts incapacitating satellite equipment which all this knowledge is becoming dependent upon.

 

[javand]

Creativity will never be wiped out. There will always be people who simply regurgitate what they’ve read, seen, or heard, but anybody who is sincerely engaging in the craft will eventually find their own “voice” so to speak.

I’m an American, and so my views of creativity are quite different from that of the Japanese. However, I do greatly respect their view of it in the arts, and I think it’s relevant to this discussion. For someone studying a craft here, there is understood to be a process called shu-ha-ri 守破離. The “shu” means “protect” and is always the first stage. You faithfully protect and reproduce the style of your teacher. It’s mastery through imitation. In time, you arrive at the “ha” stage, which means to destroy or break down. Having gained technical preficiency, you begin to be able to analyze why your teacher does things the way he does. You see the method behind it all. Finally, having mastered this, you arrive at the “ri” stage, which means breaking away from or separating. You now are free to find your own voice. You have total creativity - but it is the creativity of a master, not an amateur.

If we as a society have more examples to imitate (as long as they’re GOOD examples!) I don’t see it as a bad thing. New makers who are putting in the time and thought will eventually find their own style, even if they imitate for a long while. Still, I think there is always a place for the innocent creativity of childhood, and I would be lying if I said that wasn’t a big part of my process and the enjoyment of making knives.

Aye, of course the primary difference being, the intrinsic and widespread cultural respect for tradition in Japanese culture. Something we've talked about before, a factor that's so strong in Japanese culture that I feel is reverential to the point of being occasionally detrimental, still, it's a far sight better than the opposite, which is what I think we're dealing with here lately.

American irreverence to tradition, for tradition's sake, and being told "how things are", along with environmental factors, seems to have greatly promoted our ingenuity and success for a long time, however, in many ways, due to cultural progress and seemingly improved environmental factors, without a perspective change in that "rebellious" nature, we're left hanging on to irreverence, without having the perspective that promoted ingenuity, or creativity.

It may simply be an inevitable transition of a young society's (a few centuries old) culture, to a "sophomore slump", where we're moving into less "necessity is the mother of invention" stage, trying to work out our identity as a nation with more leisure, in a highly transitional technological state, while dealing with the age old conundrums of what it means to be a human.. Still, it can't hurt to talk about it, and see what we can do in our sub-group, to make it better, for the longevity of our legacy, in this art.

I don't think we can affect the broader culture, in any meaningful way, but MUCH of the attitude permeating our craft, is dictated by us; If the bulk of us proliferate a mind-set of productive, accountable, inclusiveness, with respect to the rich history and tradition of our art, then it will set the tone for others, and the knuckleheads will automatically be pushed out, by the passionate enthusiasts who appreciate that culture.