A while back I did a crash course in woodworking. Not wanting to spend a lot of money before I
determined whether the hobby would persist, I made several pieces of furniture
using mostly hand tools. (The term
furniture is used loosely here – my pieces won’t win any awards!) In my Internet searches to understand how to
use these tools I came upon a very interesting cultural phenomenon: The rift between ‘normites’ and
‘neanderthals’.
Normites are named after the well-known PBS woodworker Norm
Abrams, who hosted This Old House and the New Yankee Workshop for many
years. Norm had a power tool for every
possible application. Normites, like
Norm, are woodworkers who love power tools and will always prefer to use a
power tool over a hand tool to make life easier and make the project go faster.
Neanderthals, on the other hand, are named after the
prehistoric predecessors (and apparently distant relatives) to homo sapiens who
would have only used hand tools, if indeed they used many tools at all! Modern woodworking Neanderthals eschew all
power tools and almost exclusively use hand tools. They search all over for old hand planes,
chisels and dovetail saws to restore and bring back to life. They are perfectly happy sacrificing time and
efficiency for the joy of working wood by hand and avoiding the noise and dust
that are inevitable byproducts of power tools.
As I researched the techniques and tools that Neanderthals
used and perused the various online discussions and blogs, I made an
interesting observation. Many
Neanderthals were computer programmers or university professors. This seemed counter-intuitive as first, as
you might think that well-educated technology professionals would use the latest
power tools. But apparently these
Neanderthals perceived their woodworking hobby as an escape from the oppressive
onslaught of technology, a refuge of sorts.
This dichotomy between Normites and Neanderthals is in some
ways quite similar to the difference in mindset and philosophical inclination
that influences many of our choices in pastimes, entertainment and sport. The sailor versus the motor boat fanatic, the
cross-country skier versus the snowmobiler, the cyclist versus the biker, the
hiker versus the hunter, the book reader versus the TV watcher, the chess
player versus the video gamer.
Technology fascinates us, but it can also repel us. Each new wave of technological innovation
pushes us further from direct contact with some aspects of our world. It makes life easier, faster, more efficient,
but does it make it better? My iphone
seems indispensable these days, and on the rare occasions when I forget it at
home, I feel quite adrift. But would I be
better to sever that umbilical cord and live a different sort of life?
The Luddites were a secret group of artisans and craftsmen that
destroyed machinery in the early stages of the industrial revolution. They feared the loss of their livelihood and
being forced into low wage, low skill industrial jobs. The movement was very harshly suppressed, and
machinery destruction was made a capital crime punishable by execution or transportation
to penal colonies. Lord Byron, the
Romantic poet, was one of their few champions in English society.
It is clearly romantic naivete and self-indulgence to wish
for a less technology-saturated world. Agricultural
machinery and fertilizer chemistry have made it feasible for the world to be
fed reliably without constant fear of famine (though we have yet to master the
political and social skills to achieve it).
Medical and pharmaceutical technology, sanitation and other advances
have extended life and health dramatically.
Our entertainment and activity options are vastly greater because of the
many technological innovations.
Yet there is a certain contrarian allure to being a
neo-Luddite, that amorphous and undeclared modern movement that seeks to find metaphysical
and spiritual solace in time spent away from our technology addiction. Working in one’s garden with a hoe and spade,
reading a good book in a dusty library, walking through woods without air pods, or
yes, working wood by hand without the whine of a table saw or an orbital
sander.
We will never willingly return to a simpler, less technology-driven
society, though the current assembly of dark clouds on the horizon may signal
some significant unwilling changes in the near future. But individually we may find it restorative,
and even necessary, to occasionally unplug and embrace the world without the
encumbrance of our devices and machines.
Perhaps it will help us to feel less estranged and disoriented in this
crazy world.
Neo-luddites of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your anxiety!
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