原创 Grasping the maker ethos

Hephaestians are the makers, those who ask, “How can you solve a problem if you don't have one?” We take delight in the process of conceptualization continually tied to realization. We are continuously drawn to the realization of physical structures, or of non-physical structures that have a life in the physical universe more than in the abstract intellect.

We do not claim ancestry of the natural philosophers and scientists, who for millennia could not answer the question, “what will come of this?” Our lineage is from the engineers who, always working with imperfect tools and inadequate mathematics, managed to build the infrastructure to make possible the civilization of the moment.

It has only been in the last century or so that two groups have come together, conflated in the popular mind. As part of growing up in this cultural phenomenon many Hephaestians have followed the lead of Apollonians and disparaged sport, which they see as concerned only with the life of the body, unlike our presumed cultivation of the life of the mind. In my elite high school, populated with high-functioning nerds, the athletes held a low social rank.

I maintained this viewpoint until only a few decades ago, when I came to the realization that I had been engaged in sport all along! The parallels were complete – both the jocks and I lived for the exercise and expansion of personal or team capability and the experience and display of virtuosity. Reward was almost completely internal – one could accept the plaudits of others but this could never overshadow the knowledge of obstacles not yet overcome.

Last year I lectured in Russia and heard a presentation by a Russian sociologist who had studied the culture of the Hephestians in the Soviet Union where entire “academic cities” were built to nurture them. These young elite programmers and engineers, as it turned out, were enthusiastic physical sportsmen, confirming the thesis that I was explaining in my lectures – that the phenomenon of hacking was in fact another manifestation of sport.

Why does one go through years of development, consisting mostly of failure, pursuing the elusive goal of performance beyond one's personal best, when it would mostly be misunderstood by those who had never been there, and when the reward would be only the opportunity to try again to do better? Material reward is tied to such success only loosely -- both types of athletes must adapt their economic life to this pursuit of virtuosity.

We do it because we love to, and we do not yet have an answer to the question of the source of this love. Everywhere on Earth people pursue this same quest, one that will never end, and find fulfillment in the process. This is a mystery.

Go to the Maker Faire and you will see not only the high-tech gizmos that young technologists are developing. Look further into the corners of the exhibition halls and you will find table after table of crafters working in fabric, string, plastic, cardboard and wood. They have always been there, a majority being women. Walk among them, handle their products, and talk with them – and see the world being continuously reborn.

Our mystery is confronted every day in this way not in cloisters but on kitchen tables and basement workbenches by people everywhere continuing to rise to the challenges they pose themselves. For this reason I cannot despair of humanity regardless of the negative evidence. It cannot be stopped.

Lee Felsenstein is an electrical engineer who lives in Palo Alto, Calif.