What I read
In "What is 'primitive technology' and why do we love it?" George Pierpoint (2018) cites an expert who explains that our desires to both create something as individuals and to live independently when we worry about government failures support the popularity of the Primitive Skills channel on YouTube, where its superstar, John Plant, now makes a living posting videos himself creating fire blowers and other things using only materials found in the natural bush around his home in Queensland, Australia. Mr. Plant, whose name only became known when he took action to receive what he thinks is fair payment for his 21st century YouTube creations, emphasises that he does not live a primitive lifestyle, but that he lives in a modern house, where he enjoys modern food.
___________________________________
My response
Those adventures remind me of growing up in a similar setting as a child, except that when my brothers, sisters, cousins and I built our tree-houses and other "primitive" creations, we also tended to raid my father's tool kit and building supplies. I don't think it ever occurred to us to make our own axe or hammer, although we did like making our own bows and arrows to go hunting with. The local animals pretty safe — we never managed to hit a single one with our very primitive weapons, which also required the use of 20th century pocket knives in their creation from the natural supplies our family property provided.
 |
| Matthew's place |
I was also wondering as I read the article the second time whether Mr. Plant would be able to enjoy his passion for primitiveness were he not also living in the comfortable abundances of the 21st century, with its vast and vastly complex social network to support him, including making a living by posting on YouTube. If he could build his own video recorder, computer and internet equipment starting from what he had found lying around in the bush, I would be truly impressed. In the meantime, I love strolling around the native bush on my brother's property when I visit Australia, but I also love his 100-year-old traditional Australian farmhouse that has been refurbished to have every modern convenience, from a coffee grinder to wi-fi.
___________________________________
My question
What, if anything, do you create with your own hands?
___________________________________
Reference
- Pierpoint, G. (2018, August 27). What is 'primitive technology' and why do we love it? Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-45118653
Oddly, it was harder to summarize this article than others that were longer and on more complex topics. My first effort was 138 words when I ran Google Docs' word count tool on it, so I had to go back and revise to get it below the 130 word limit.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if I've ever made anything useful from scratch, but I can imagine it would be fun doing that. Few years ago I bought an armchair from IKEA and I had to assemble it by myself. I remember that it was fun seeing how pieces of woods turn in to an armchair. So, I am quite sure if I were to build my armchair step by step from designing, sawing, drilling, putting together, and a lot of trials and errors, it would be fun especially for the first time.
ReplyDeleteNow, I still have noting comes to mind about what I made by my own hands.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I can tell my story nearly about my primitive skills' experience. In my 9th grade, Thai school usually have one mandatory subject called 'luk seua net nari' subject, sort of camping. It taught me to learn lifestyle for surviving in forest such as how to tied string, how to see the compass and how to cook, so it is relatively challenging me to sleep in the small tent and to take a bath so much. From that time to now, it always makes me think oh 3 days and 2 nights in this camp is enough.