Re: A Bicycle Safety Parable

On Fri, 26 Jul 2024 15:14:23 -0400, Frank Krygowski
<frkrygow@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
(chomp)

The young guy I described was unusual enough in many ways that he's
still the topic of some conversations on club rides. One member with
some relevant experience stated the opinion that the young guy is
somewhere on the autism spectrum. Perhaps that's true. But he was
certainly a novice regarding bike technology.
>
About the Bike Friday: A new bike shop opened in town a few years ago.
On one of my most recent visits there, I got in a pleasant conversation
with a new employee about the same age as the guy above. This guy was
much sharper intellectually, and considering engineering as a major.
>
But somehow, he had zero knowledge about folding bikes! I took him out
to my car to let him see how the Friday unfolded and re-folded. He was
quite amazed.
>
Different people know different things.

That's a very common problem, especially with people who are self
taught.  They are usually quite smart or brilliant, but have huge
holes in their education.  For example, I'm suppose to be an RF
engineer, which covers many areas.  At one time I was lacking in
education and experience in some of those areas.  Of course, I was
hired to work in an area in which I had some expertise, but was soon
transferred to a project in which I knew very little.  I had to borrow
text books, trade journals and magazines in order to absorb sufficient
knowledge to even be conversant on the topic.  This happened to me
several times.  In one case, the cramming wasn't sufficient and I had
to ask for help from other engineers who I had met.  Even those who
were overworked and busy were willing to help if I asked politely.
Eventually, I learned not to expect expertise in all areas of a field
or technology[1].

Not knowing how a folding bike works is easily forgivable if one is
willing to learn.  The test I previously described could also be used
to determine if someone had learned anything from the Bike Friday
demonstration.  If he is "much sharper intellectually" he should
easily pass my test.  You probably won't need to tell him anything
more than once. 

[1]  I'm going through that right now.  A few years ago, I helped
convert a vertical mill to CNC (computerized numerical control):
<http://www.learnbydestroying.com/jeffl/pics/CNC-conversion/index.html>
The one area in which I am not familiar is the 3 phase spindle motor
and its associated switching, interlocks, VFD speed control,
contactors with timers, etc.  Of course, that's what failed last
weekend.  It's becoming a difficult problem to troubleshoot and we're
about to beg for help.



--
Jeff Liebermann                 jeffl@cruzio.com
PO Box 272      http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Ben Lomond CA 95005-0272
Skype: JeffLiebermann      AE6KS    831-336-2558