Dean Kamen, Manual Laborers, and You

[N7UJJ]

It's not the message, but the Communicator.

I don't think Dean's message about aspiring to a professional degree is the cause of the elitist paradox, but rather the fact that Dean said it. Had one of the arena workers said the same, we would have stood and applauded him/her. My dad, a bus driver, told me the same thing. He also told me that anyone making an honest living deserves respect for their contribution to us all. I'm sure Dean's views are the same.

Dean's delivery is not the best, but his points are insightful and very "quoteworthy". More like being in a brainstorming session rather than the slick, edited final version.

Several years ago we were visiting an elite engineering oriented high school. Students were drawn from all over the city and were selected by high math scores, language skills -- cream of the crop. One activity they participated in was a competition to see how far a student-made vehicle could travel on a fixed, small amount of gasoline. They would always lose to rural schools "out in the sticks". When the kids asked their teacher how this could be, he replied, "While you are preparing yourselves academically for engineering, those kids have been keeping machinery running on the farm for years. they can "feel" what will work and how to coax a little more performance out of an engine. They have a life time of experience."

Our high school robotics club has competed in a number of engineering competitions with university teams. High school kids who have worked on projects for several years can beat university seniors whose "hands-on" experience is a fourth year, one semester capstone project.

Manual labor experience with engineering training is a powerful combination.