Question for all you DIY people

Yea, I am a big Niven Fan as well.

Loved his Ringworld series.

DAB

DAB,

Thank you for remembering Jerry.  I'm a huge fan of Niven's Known Universe, and I tend to overlook poor Jerry, sorry.  

Time for a little DIY!  I'm going to go hand craft a gun that fits perfectly in my hand and only fires for me. (Yes, yes, nobody worry, it was from the book as well.)

Mike

Don't forget that Jerry Pournelle wrote the book with Larry.

But I do agree about the type casting issue.  When you are forced into a single dimension, your creativity suffers greatly.

DAB

Sounds like someone needs to read "A Mote in God's Eye" by Larry Niven, paying special attention to the Engineer and the Watchmaker caste.  The Mote in God's Eye | Project Gutenberg Self-Publishing - eBooks | Read eBooks online

To me, DIY is how we learn how to make things better.  It is at the very root of invention.  Without it, we wouldn't have many of the luxuries that we as a society have grown accustomed to.

As an example, just because Mr. Coffee makes a coffee machine, do we have to settle for a whole pot complete with burnt sludge on the bottom?  Why stop there?  No!  DIY and invention provide us with a single brew cup Kuerig.  Keurig - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia  Now, if you read "A Mote in God's Eye" you will find that maybe there is even better way to make coffee.

DIY is progress, but that is not to say that DIY cannot be costly, wasteful and self serving.  Sometimes, one is best served by relying on what exists and not reinventing the wheel.  I for one, would rather try though, besides it feels good to make things with my mind and my hands.

After read the Douglas Wong's reply it is difficult for me to add something to the list.

Although the first line in John Wiltrout's reply is the best synthesis

For me and I suspect for most of you DIY is a way of life. I do not mean by this that I make everything that I use in my life. On the contrary I make very few of the items that are the tools and fixtures of my life. What I mean is that of the tools and items that I buy I almost never find that they properly or perfectly suit my purpose for them.  My DIY comes into play when I take the tool or fixture and modify it to suit me. I very seldom live with an improperly fit or operating item. I do not want to compromise so I modify.  Sometimes it is as simple as bending the item to fit or adding a string or a wire. A simple example is the Radio Shack Soldering Iron that I have used for years in my shop. When it came out of the box the power wire and the wire to the iron itself both came out of the back of the base. This was fine for the power wire but the position of the wire to the iron made it 5 inches shorter than it needed to be and the torque on the base was always pulling the base around. The simple DIY solution was to open the case and bring the wire out the front of the base. While I had it open I also added studs to hold the extra tips for the iron so that they were not lying loose. This is what DIY means to me. I am not willing to blindly accept the physical configuration of the tools and fixtures in my life. Have Screw driver, will modify.

John

I have trouble imagining something of significance not having a downside.

We have to try to vet this question dualistically.  When we make decisions we are liable for the outcomes.  Are we really qualified for the job?  How will we dispose of the tools when we are done using them?  Is this the economical way?  Do we have the means to rid ourselves of the by-products?

I really admire the development of hackerspaces.

I agree with you completely.

DIY is about learning by doing. Some of the rewards are:

• interesting challenges to occupy and grow our minds
• accumulation of knowledge (knowledge is power)
• satisfaction of accomplishment and achievement (the harder the project the greater the satisfaction)
• it is a great creative outlet and the result may even be useful
• the ability to take control of the physical world and adapt it to our wants and needs
• it builds self-confidence and self-reliance and reduces dependence on others to take care of you
• accolades for accomplishment, industriousness and creativity
• training and experience useful in obtaining and keeping a job
• it is fun to do interesting things and interact with others doing similar things

In short it expands our capabilities, knowledge, experience, earning power and enjoyment of life.

And people we respect praise us for doing it.

Incidentally "failed" projects often have the same set of rewards as successful projects so failure is not a great description for such projects and there is no real downside to DIY.

Doug

For myself DIY actually stands for can I do it!

Dale