Making for the Soul (and Brain)

Humblefacturing the future has positive implications for all kinds of things, from improving economic stability, to greater personal freedom. But one more crucial added bonus of working toward a more humble, visible, local way of making will be the effect on the people involved in that making. In the recent bestselling book "Shop Class as Soulcraft", author Matthew Crawford explores the real impacts that tangible technical labor has on the development of elementary and secondary students. Indeed, since the 1980s the rise of rhetoric about the coming information economy, and the need for "knowledge workers" has driven a serious recline in the way we value manual labor, particularly skilled labor. But as we have seen in the 30 years that followed, more information didn't decrease our need for complicated physical fabrication. In fact it has only increased with growth in robotics, nanotechnology, and a need for new materials to meet the need for carbon neutral and renewable objects. To get a better idea of the scope of the problem, and the potential for the solution, check out Matthew's original essay for The New Atlantis. And we know that our readership is full of makers, so sound off in the comments about your experiences with making for the soul.