Crawford is a former knowledge worker (BS in physics, PhD in political philosophy, think tank, abstract writer) who is now a motorcycle mechanic. Sometimes a bit weighty, but full of thoughtful ideas around his thesis of the benefits of real hands-on mechanical work and craftsmanship.
Henry Ford needed to double wages to keep people on the new assembly lines, so distasteful was the repetetive work to people. p. 41-43.
Indebtedness keeps workers in harness. p. 44. (He refers to Karl Marx and other philosophers quite frequently, but often in disagreement, or as an example of an extreme.)
Expert systems are used to transfer knowledge, skill, and decisionmaking from employee to employer. p. 46.
"Fixing things may by a cure for narcissim." p. 82. i.e., fixing things involves failure and trial and error. persistent fixers are successful.
"The truth doesn't reveal itself to idle spectators" p. 98.
"[One] must be constantly attentive to the possibility that you may be mistaken. This is an ethical virtue. " p. 99
Management: trades vs. office worker. specific, concrete, vs. vague, ill defined. ch 6
Heidegger - "The way we come to know a hammer is not by staring at it, but by grabbing hold of it and using it." Experience is worth more than knowledge. (a central point in this book). p. 164
