Are people these days growing up being unable to do the most simple diy tasks?
From when I was little, I always tried to diy. I used all sorts of tools, even circular saws while still being in elementary school. Later I learned to weld, do electrical stuff, laying bricks and tiles, interior work, did roofs, insulation and piping, inserted doors and windows. I can pretty much build a house with my own hands.
But when I ask the younger generation, people seem to be total failures and want to call someone even for the most simple problems. Connecting a wall outlet? "I'm not touching that! I need an electrician!"
Are we heading for a future where people cannot hammer in a simple nail anymore?
Wats a hammer?
lot of it maybe due to, the young 'uns (in large parts of Europe anyway) being no longer able to afford purchase cheap starter/fixer upper flat/house/shed/hovel - its all rentals, and that seems to be increasingly 'dont touch anything! - if its bust, call the Landlord!'
I mostly rented privately, and fixed shit when needed myself - but I always rented the kind of places that needed fixing, from the kind of landlords who would tell you in no uncertain terms to fuck off, you asked them to raise a finger. Dunno where the next generation(s) are s'posed to learn to fix anything, when they basically never need to nor get the chance, and even on here, they get advised not to touch shit and call the Landlord, or else get lawyered. As said, no skillz regrettable but maybe not entirely their fault, IMO.
If it would not be tragic it would be funny that politicians make laws where you are almost in jail for diy, and where you get raided for ordering chemicals, but at the same time want young people to grow up with curiosity and learn from technical hobbies.
>>994310
Well honestly when it comes to electrical it's better to leave it to someone with more experience but I do agree people need to be able to handle the most simple tasks especially now we have the internet at our fingertips so we can do everything with the proper information.
You are supposed to spend money on everything to keep the economy running.
A lot of people just don't give a shit.
Say, your toaster broke. The POS cost like 5-10quid, just go buy another, fuck wasting time on it.
Hell, my phone was 100quid, if I broke it depending on time I'd just go buy another.
Friend of mine, their 40inch TV broke. So I had a look, couple blown caps, buy new, no go. Google it "might be the driver for the backlight", so far I'd wasted ... 5hours on it maybe? Just farting around getting bits.
The owner of the TV just went "oh its fucked then, I'll buy another" and drops 300 on a new one.
I buy a driver for 4quid, takes a week to get to me, done. Nice 40inch TV for me. I offered it back, they didn't want it. Didn't care.
Trades aren't pushed in schools any more and there isn't a financial incentive to learn one.
When I was in school we had a full workshop but we were not allowed to use any tools.
When we were in lessons that focused on future careers it was all office jobs and social care jobs.
The only people that went to college to learn a trade such as brick laying were the ones who caused disruption in the class room and most of them either ended up in jail or just a complete dole dosser.
When you do go into trades where skills can be learned and passed on there isn't a massive wage incentive there so people either don't stick it or don't bother.
>>994314
>lot of it maybe due to, the young 'uns (in large parts of Europe anyway) being no longer able to afford purchase cheap starter/fixer upper flat/house/shed/hovel - its all rentals, and that seems to be increasingly 'dont touch anything! - if its bust, call the Landlord!'
This is my situation, and it is starting to piss me the fuck off, there is loads of shit that needs to be done in my apartment but the landlord gets maybe one thing fixed every other month if i am lucky.
If i fix it myself i am liable for any damage if whatever i fixed decides to fail spectacularly and flood the apartment/burn the house down/electrocute the next tenants cat.
>>994314
That's the issue with the "modern" work world. You have tons of moveable workers in rented appartments, and only a group of people owning those.
Because $job can expect you to move or leave these days, less and less people really settle down and buy a house.
The way I see it is that, at least here, any sort of manual work is looked down upon because people assume that it's directly related to a lack of education.
Let's talk about a certain problem in which people have a high DIY spirit but lack the proper knowledge in fixing anything. The results are always shoddy.
This is rampant in my family
>>994354
>there isn't a financial incentive to learn one.
Skilled tradesmen usually get paid significantly more than pencil pushers.
>>994310
I think the part that works out for me is the lack of other finish carpenters to compete with. especially on side jobs i get from the local lumber yard. Not many old guys around still willing to work after 9-5. And younger guys like myself think they're above it. I'll gladly pull in triple every week. I don't have anything better to do.
I'm glad you got to make an entire thread dedicated to jerking yourself off over how much better you think you are than "those kids today". Everyone clap. Everyone clap for the OP. Surely this man is the last of his kind and everyone born in later generations is inferior. Everyone else is really dumb and you're really smart wow please teach me.
Honestly how hard is your penis right now? Did typing all that out give you a big boner?
OMG if I had the internet and youtard when I was growing up.......I had the old FoxFire books and the Chilton manuals.
Such fond memories of trying to make my own moonshine using a pressure cooker and plastic tubing; alcohol burns you know :)
>>994422
Even if that's true, people find intrinsic value in having an office job located in a city where there are strong social environments. Trades tend to attract people who are less social and usually more conservative.
>>994434
He is probably as hard as you are mad
>>994442
The point was about money.
>>994443
I don't know if that is possible, he damn mad
>>994354
>no financial incentive
But that's wrong. I get paid well.
>>994354
>When you do go into trades where skills can be learned and passed on there isn't a massive wage incentive there so people either don't stick it or don't bother.
How is this different than any other job? The longer you stay with a company,the more you'll make. Unless you're a shit worker.
>>994310
>when I was a lad
>circular saw
I guess you were born in 1998?
>>994375
This is the kind of place I live in too (Australian here) the landlords of this place don't want me to fix stuff, even though I am willing and could do it very easily, if anything goes wrong I need to call them up so they can get someone in. Currently there is a small internal leak in my toilet (leaking from the tank into the bowl) I know what the problem is, I could go fix it right now, but I'm currently waiting for a plumber because if I don't and they find out I try to fix shit around here then I get kicked out.
As for the younger generation not learning stuff (I'm 27 so I don't know if you mean my generation or the one below mine) it seems to slowly go that way. my run through highschool we had shop classes (metalwork, woodwork, electronics, sewing, cooking) but we were the last years to do it, I don't know what they next classes that came through had to do, but I can't imagine it being as useful as the stuff I learned in those classes, I learnt more useful math from my shop classes than I did from my math classes, I learnt more useful design ideas from them than I did from my art classes, I had more fun and looked forward to those classes more than I did any of my other classes. Shit sucks.
>>994442
>Trades tend to attract people who are less social and usually more conservative.
That's not true at all.
I grew up in the south, working on bicycles, dirt bikes, cars, carpentry projects, and eventually went to tech school to be a steam turbine mechanic. Right now I lead a crew as a P&C specialist and have to teach 26 year old twats with bachelors and masters degrees how to tap holes and read electrical drawings. I would have to say yeah, most suburban kids grow up in front of TV screens instead of playing with their hands and learning actual skills.
>>994310
I grew up rebuilding houses with my father after tenants destroyed them. That's where I learned most of my macro-house stuff. Car stuff, well, I had my father as well who already had stockpiled almost all the tools I'd ever need and justified buying a cheap used car as 'it would build character and teach [me] proper ownership.' As for electronics, well, our gen has the internet.
I've always been of the opinion that our generation has no excuse for not knowing how to do something. Operative word: knowing. When I moved to the US, tools where unavailable and expensive as fuck, making it more feasible to pay a mechanic for some things. There's also the issue of liability. There's currently a painted over outlet that no longer grips the plugs, and leaves essentially mains exposed. As per lease, I can't change it myself, and if anything happens if I did, and it were traced back to me it would be legal hell.
You have clearly identified the issue beyond liability, and it's a simple lack of opportunity and necessity, plus being a few generations distanced from any necessity/knowledge. There's also a financial aspect to it, where increasing complexity in items means simple failures render things beyond economical repair, especially when factoring time into the cost. Blown fuse? simple. Random electrical issue that isn't either a short or open in a $20 coffee machine? Set it aside for fun/misc parts/throw it out, and buy another. Not worth the time.
Also, lack of apprenticeships, but it seems community colleges have that rather covered.
>>994324
I had instruct a man in his 30's how to change a fuse.
>he and my sister are looking to buy a house, are actually looking at a potential fixer upper.
>sister has admitted that they "may" want my help... I'm graduating as an EE in a year, they're assuming I'll have the time to guide this useless gym-playstation bro to properly use a powertool.
>>994310
you know, its funny I Grew up from around 6ish years old, working with my father cleaning pools, I'd get up at 4 AM, put on my pool cleaning cloths, and hop in the car, and just kinda go where ever we were needed. this is back before salt water pool systems where even a thing. I learned to clean the filters, check the PH, vacuum the bottom. while my dad did any backwash needed, or adding the acids/bases to correct the PH. you have to clean public pools/hotel pools, early in the morning to give the chemicals enough time to decloud the water, or raise/lower the PH. we also did fountains, rarely, but I loved doing fountains, because I got to keep the MASSES of coins that came out of those suckers.
anyway. that's all my father ever really taught me how to do, everything else, I learned on my own. I learned to shoot on my own, despite my father of had being a marksman in the navy. and my mother, well.. dunno if I really learned any real life skills from her, nothing that I can spit off the top of my head as I write now, maybe something will come to later.
point is, if kids now days, want to learn something, exposure early on is great and wonderful. but there is also a huge amount of pressure thrown onto young kids, like for fucks sake, why does a 6 year old need to know fucking calculus. everyone now days it seems wants their child to be some sort of super star and become rich and support them when their old. because they can't fucking manage their own finances now, so they have no retirement, because they HAD to have that 2016 - what ever brand new car. and that 800 dollar purse, and so on.
Point is, 20 years down the road from now, if some kid came to me, and was like "I want to learn what you're doing.." I will be straight with them, and teach them. but they have to REALLY want it.
>>994310
This is the information age and I think things are going to change.
Im 26 and learned some regular home and automotive /diy/ as a kid from my father. I didnt use the skills much of it as a kid. When I got internet at age like 18 or so, forums (which had much MUCH less information in 2008) got me into /diy/ in a big way.
If I had todays internet when I was 13, things would have been so much different.
This applies to pretty much any activity, not just diy.
If you were very into something, you would go join clubs,hang out at a specialty store, or go to school for it.
But for all the people who didnt have a deep burning desire for a particular hobby/activity, you would just kind of ignore it and it would die out.
Its just not like that these days
I know its cliche, but my parents dont know shit about electronics or computer and refuse to google things to fix small problems.
Kids growing up today are going to be a much different breed of person as adults.
They are teaching themselves to use the internet for problems solving. I can learn any skill or solve any problem just by logging onto youtube.
Sure, it takes a lot more than just knowledge to hone a skill, but the knowledge to get started is so easily accessible. Not only that, with youtube they are fucking videos that SHOW people how to do things which is easier for those people who require a hands on type learning.
Unless your father was in a trade, and taught you deep knowledge from that specific trade, the typical around the house /diy/ stuff is on youtube.
Think of all the mid 20s people who learned nothing a kid, but cant afford or wont call a specialist to fix a toilet or replace a lightswitch.
It only takes one small repair like that to boost someones confidence to where /diy/ isnt some scary idea.
Kids growing up with KipKay, minecraft, 300$ 3d printer kits, welding and woodworking videos, etsy and pinterest. Its trendy to be diy right now, tide is definitely turning.
>>994422
Not where I live. There is a mass influx of immigration so there is massive competition. There used to be massive money in my trade but since the recession of 08 it's only very slowly coming back up. Not significantly at all.
>>994469
Well I don't work for a company. I work for myself. So I determine what I make. That said, again, there's massive competition so it's hard for me to price a job at what it's really worth any more.
>>994588
>I would have to say yeah, most suburban kids grow up in front of TV screens instead of playing with their hands and learning actual skills.
Can confirm. Sometime in my early (mid?) 20s it dawned on me how fully manually incompetent I was. A lot of us think/thought of ourselves as knowing the basics too. Last handful of years has been showing me that I only knew the absolute bare minimum, plus a few specialized "basics". I'm just now getting to where I can know what to do without first having to google it about half the time. The other half, projects still take fucking forever to complete because I don't know wtf I'm doing and don't wanna half-ass it. Asking for help isn't as much of a crapshoot as it was at first either. Most folks still take one look at me and get ready to point me toward the duct tape as soon as I've finished speaking, but the preemptive impatience doesn't stick around once I actually start speaking like it used to.
>>994419
Def been guilty of this before. You know that form over function saying? Also heard it as form follows function a few times but regardless, I used to think that referred to caring more about the aesthetics of a thing than its functionality, as if it were merely a matter of personal preference. Going by that misguided logic, I'm more the function over form type. Lol, you see where this is headed? I've a number of "solutions to various stuff" lying around from early on that function just as I'd intended them to but look either slightly bizarre, kind of a mess, or just straight up retarded. Learning process has been as fun as it's been frustrating and as rewarding as it's been ridiculous though.
Economics.
Home ownership is dropping. Rentership is rising. Wages are stagnant/decreasing, forcing people to work longer hours. Manufacturing/trade jobs are no longer a big thing, and when they are, often the unions are gone and pay is bad. Schools don't even have shop classes anymore and don't teach any skills except what looks good on a college application.
Result:
Younguns have nothing to work on, nowhere to work on it, no time to work it, noone to teach them how, and can't afford the tools or parts to do it with. It's a systemic collapse.
>>994354
>Trades aren't pushed in schools any more and there isn't a financial incentive to learn one.
Depends where/when you grew up.
When I was finishing school in the early 90s (yeah- old) it was strongly discouraged and you'd get career advisors, teachers and everyone going 'no stay in school, go to uni' when all I really wanted to be was an electrician at 16.
Fast forward- trades in Australia are scraping by with virtually no electricians, plumbers, builders, mechanics etc and the ones that aren't fucking idiots are usually in the low-6 figure incomes, they'll work their arses off for it, but they do ok. Silly old fucking me got went to uni to engineering, which I couldn't really afford- ended up getting a scholarship from the military and ended up in that madness that was well, the military all through the 2000's. Pay was ok as an officer, being shot at though for months on end is highly over rated though.
I came from a different generation though I guess than most here, but being in the country meant fixing things because there wasn't really any alternative, stuff had to be built or fixed or you just didn't have it. That level of practicality and making do just isn't on a lot of people's radars now though, even though it might just be a case of tightening some screws, using a hammer or soldering on some busted out caps, they don't care and its apparently easier to bin it and get another.
>>994694
I graduated school in 2009.
Small school, small rural town built around a single factory. (they made a specific chemical that was sent to another factory to make something else by a huge company)
The recession hit there really hard. Gas was 5$ a gallon, food prices soared, layoffs in that local factory, layoffs in the very very large corporation that employed most of the large city 25 miles away. That very large company who builds machines, they do contracts with local companies to make parts, or for labor. So even small time machine shops and other things with like 40 employees were laying people off.
Trickle down effect fucked a lot of small companies of all types up.
This was all happening to our parents, grandparents, friends and relatives right as soon as we were graduating. Like I said the small town I lived in the majority of people worked in the local factory or drove 25 miles to the city to work in the other companies factories.
I remember being in that climate, I was either going to try and get a labor job when there were thousands of people being laid off, or I was going to go to school for 4 years and hope things were fixed by the time I graduated.
We were strongly urged by our teachers and our families to go to school because it was just a tough time. I know of maybe 12-15 kids from school who went off to a real college. My graduating class had like 40 kids in it. If we would have graduated in 2005, I guarantee you that almost of them would have actually went to college.
Retarded worthless "arts" degrees aside, its no wonder the last 2-3 years we have heard nothing but bad news of young 4 year degree graduates not finding real jobs and are moving back in with their parents.
Id bet the recession caused lots of people not planning on college to go.
Trade work still hasnt stabilized and I still hear of people I know getting laid off. So its not like the "we need more trade workers" stuff is accurate either.
>>994684
this. it's worse though.
for example in highschool chemistry the teacher made us do this huge lab report which was basically just entirely copy pasta. didnt learn a single thing about esthers, all the chemicals handled by teachers because OHS. made it look like we were doing hard chemistry so we could be graded equivalent to other schools in the district with some grade equalization scheme. literally learnt nothing.
>study english
>read romeo and juliet
>teacher only watched the movie
>class only watched the movie
>failed assignment because I wrote about the play, not the movie
>pic related
>what my class learnt about ye olde englisch
>its early modern
>they will never study classic english lit
boomers set themselves up to fail
>we want young people to work hard
>for nothing
>80 year careers
>we wont provide good stable jobs
>we wont let them be productive
>but anon that guy made millions selling ring tones and developing freemium apps
No. It's not that I do not want.
It's that repairing is always much more expensive.
First of all the tools I have were all fucking expensive, although I tried to manage my funds.
Second of all, replacement parts nowadays are often much more expensive than they were in your generation. Nowadays you get full AMPs from China with excellent sound quality for $100 when buying replacement parts for old Sonys or Yamahas you have to pay $20-30 for the parts alone. Then add shipping plus the extra space and money for the tools and there you have it: It's just not viable anymore.
I had a dirty (dirty fulthy reaaal dirty because it stood in a room where people smoked) microwave that broke. Throw it away and getting me a new one from craigslist for 10 bucks.
Broke a portable Speakerset, got me a new one from Chiner fpr 15 bucks instead of wasting $5 on gas and $5 on replacement parts.
A few years back I bought solder and shit for $100 at the only shop that sells shit like that around here. The whole good weighted about 25 grams or what? The prices are ridiculous.
Have you actually taken a look on aliexpress etc?
The only things viable for a repair are fast laptops, computers or cars sometimes.
Even renovating a house can be more expensive than buying one new from scratch nowadays.
Rather using my soldering expertise for making new shit to get new shit instead of repairing old shit to get old shit.
>>994705
>skilled labor shortage
it's a meme. it's business end of town code phrase for "we made the cost of living too high and people are demanding no decrease in their standard of living"
>but anon if Bangladeshi diesel mechanics are willing to work for $20/hr in northern territory uranium mines then you should just accept that nobody wants to pay you 60$/hr
>they're so lucky and grateful just to have a job so they can send money home to their families
it's not that there is a shortage of skilled labour, there's a shortage of cheap skilled labour. six figures is the minimum salary required to live in australia. any less and home ownership wont happen and you cant afford reliable transport and accomodation to work. life becomes simply working to survive instead of working to build a nest egg.
t. disabled dropout failure australian NEET
>>994708
>baby boomers
I just recently found the definition of this "class" of people and it totally makes sense. Literally all the people I know that were born in those years are fucking stupid selfish cunts.
They are like this white dog here, fucking annoying and ugly.
They are the people that got to buy and use gasoline for fucking incredible cheap prices and now they try to manage us into caring about the environment while still maintaining their bullshit wasteful lifestyle.
I fucking hate them. Always the know-it-alls, the pretend saviours with a ton of shit behind their backs.
Kill all baby boomers!
>>994721
their memes work though. like just work hard. firm handshake and all that. but it falls apart with globalization which they never needed to work with in their working lives. they had tariffs, not free trade agreements making sure our economies didn't fall apart. they had the white australia policy and rampant xenophobia, not unlimited immigration. hell a lot of the boomers ive met dont even like germans.
>>994551
That must be why the trades are one of the few heavily unionized workforces left right?
>>994545
>1998
Explain.
You're aware that circular saws date back to the 1920's right?
>>994672
>I've a number of "solutions to various stuff" lying around from early on that function just as I'd intended them to but look either slightly bizarre, kind of a mess, or just straight up retarded.
Same here. But my problem is that I learned to work on a mill and lathe, with a precision of ~5/100th mm. I don't have access to such machinery anymore so it gets frustrating to try to achive something remotely passable with a hammer, hacksaw and vise. Because I know I could do way better.
>>994721
>Always the know-it-alls, the pretend saviours with a ton of shit behind their backs.
I'm working in IT and often such people smirk, refering to me as the "computer guy". Thanks to a wide interest in all sorts of tech/diy things, I can often point out how retarded they are when they try to impress the others with their technical expertise. The more of an ass they are, the more I make them look like one at the first chance.
>>994419
This is my issue desu. I'm always looking for good resources, know of any books or websites?
>>994717
If you rent a house with a couple friends and have no dependants you can live quite comfortably on 60k.
You want your own house and a family? You're fucked mate.
>>994865
Maybe there's books on stuff but I honestly wouldn't know. I just hate that my family thinks it is dumb to Google or read up on how to do something
>>994716
>no clue what he's talking about
Anon we are getting to the point where we can 3d print houses. We'll not need to diy anything, want a new electrical outlet? Just print a new house!
>>994310
Yes we are
>>994310
Your generation swung a hammer and fixxed shit.
This generation writes code and builds computers
>>995159
I don't know man. With all the phones, apps, updates, and latest tech trash, people sure have a hard time discerning what they even need, let alone understand how tech works. This is a generation that is being catered to in many ways. Unfortunately, I am guilty as well.
>>995159
But they somehow can't figure out how to tighten up a loose electrical socket. What i found is that most of them think it's beneath them. I'm 23 and grew up working construction with my dad. He's damn good at whatewer he does be it brick work, tileing, roofing etc. And people admire the things he does but when they see him in work clothes that have paint and mortar and shit on it they try to go for the other side of the street. They somehow don't get how i can feel good when i do some woodworking with my hand tools. They understand upping the difficulty in vidya but don't understand why i should feel happy for finally getting mortise joints right.
>>994716
>spent 100$ on a soldering iron
There is literally no need for this unless you're getting a hako or other good name brand. If you're just doing basic soldering home depot and amazon sells them for 15$. I got an adjustable iron on amazon for around that price, and for my few times a month soldering, it is more than enough. It's nobodys fault but you're own that you're dumb.
>>994310
You know, it really fell off for a while once I got my own talmudbox, used to fuck around with DIY stuff all the time as a kid.
>>994310
I see this from time to time when im at work at................ walmart, lawn and garden department.
Asian guy walks in, wants to buy trees, ask if we plant trees. Tell him no, he leaves. had 3 different guys ask me about this.
People buy the shitty swing play sets, ask if we can come over and put it together for them.
Grills, my fuckin god the grills. The area I live in is full of people with money and housing areas full of people from India. These fuckers act like their shit dont stink because they take most of the IT and EE jobs in the area (btw, Fuck you Sprint).
Anyway, these fuckers buy grills and want us to put them together same with the patio sets. They come to get their shit and it doesn't fit in their car so we have to take half of the grill or patio set apart and they have to make 2 or more trips to come back and get the shit.
Plus all the retards that want to buy the display lawn mowers or they want us to put them together. Most of the have the handlebars folded down in the box and the others you have to unfold the handlebars and slide them out of the deck of the mower.
>>995225
Not the soldering iron itself, although you could count that in additionally, yes. I'm talking about tiny parts, like the solder itself, LEDs'n'shit.
It's not all at all that "cost saving" as people make it out to be.
It's like paying the same amoung of cash, but getting it in a more customized way. I guess, that's why less people diy stuff nowadays.
>>995305
Jellybean parts only kill you if you buy 1 of them, buy a pack of 10-50 and it works out cheaper. Not like they go off.
Its why I buy shit in bulk now, I know I'm going to need more switches, buttons, lengths of wire, might as well buy em in bulk.
>>995225
dont even bother buying a soldering iron that isnt temperature regulated. honestly, the amount of fucking around fishing out wiring looms because some retarded auto electrician before me tempered the copper to the point it oxidized and got super brittle or cold solder jointed it or dry jointed the fucker jesus fuck professionals who pretend to work in an electrical trade but cant even crimp terminals properly fml.
>>995159
>This generation writes code and builds computers
Is that supposed to impress? Because, it does not. You don't even build computers, as in /diy/ sense. You unpack something you ordered at Amazon and stick it together. Soon that's outsourced to Raja from India too.
This generation is hopelessly lost if your only focus is coding and sticking computer parts together. Most don't even understand the tech they are using.
Drop me and a hipster on an isolated island, along with some tools. Hipster will die within days, I'll spend my life in a tropical mansion.
>>995281
Sounds like an idea for a business
>>995320
So true. I recently looked for some screws for a project where I need about 300. A pack of 100 cost $8, a pack of 1000 cost $25. 700 extra for $1
Also ordered some AL profiles. The pieces closest to the length I need were more expensive than 2m pieces. So I'll just cut those.
>>995336
The 15$ one I got on amazon has adjustable tempature. DESU I'm not too sure how true the numbers it says are, but I'm not really into electronics, I only use the solering iron when adding accessory electronics to my truck. And for that it is very adequate.
>>995366
I'm the hipster but I'd be more than happy to learn from you. I'll keep my mouth shut too
I know it's weird to say this but I come from a family that always turned to my brother for everything. Whenever I wanted to learn or try something, they'd immediately dismiss me, despite my brother not really knowing what he was doing. It sucks when they emphasize working hard over working smart.
>>994310
Maybe their time is worth more money than yours?
>>994434
Somebody's butyhurt or are you a dumb millennial.
>>994469
Or work for shit company
For many of us, our parents did nothing to teach us hands on skills and in some cases actively discouraged it. Schools have rapidly removed any shop-like classes from the curriculum and stigmatized these skills as being indicative of low education and by association-low income which is terribly unattractive.
Then add that most of the tech we rely on is either disposable, impossible to work on, or some combination of the two.
Just imagine how bad the next generation will be.
>>994419
Certainly true in my family. My dad was stubborn about fixing things... hasn't gone to a mechanic for thirty years or something like that.
Two cars he's maintained have had the brakes go out (one of which was the one I was driving). One rusted out and dropped an axle on the highway, nearly killed him. My mom and I both suspected he was trying to kill us.
He used to make me feel so stupid for not knowing how to do things, and now after a couple years in a semi blue collar career, I watch him struggling over something that could be done in moments with a tool he already owns and I just shake my head.
This man is an engineer. wtf.
>>994641
I learned to cook from my mom and grandmother.
Not really recipes per se, but just to jump in there and make simple food for myself.
I was positively shocked when I went away to college and lived with roommates who couldn't boil an egg and were astounded that I could make garlic bread without pulling it out of a box. I'm dating a woman who is almost 30... I taught her to cook fucking RICE.
>>994657
Ehhh, some general handyman skills just don't make up for the kind of refined troubleshooting skills you get from learning alongside someone else.
The internet has tons of info, much of it incomplete and poorly presented... and if you are really inexperienced, you can't separate the nigger rigged shit from sound advice.
>>994310
I would say loss of funding from schools where most older generations found their love for tinkering. You can also attribute it to the rise of divorces and fatherless homes, no pop to learn how to fix things from. Rise of consumable media, whatever; basically this is a relatively new problem and just saying how this new generation is xyz isnt going to fix shit.
>>994411
Ironically that was the attitude when I was at school. It was all office work prepping or uni prepping with the "bad" kids doing trade certifications like GNVQ or BTEC.
Now all the houses in my area that are owned by real people have trade vans on the drive.
Plumbers, sparkies and even labourers can afford to buy, while the rest of us rent.
This is a fucked up country. UKish btw.
>>994469
This used to be the case. Now it is not. In the UK at least.
Probably because Brits own nothing in our own country.
Not our houses, our companies and lately it's all about leasing a car on a 3 year contract with the inventive that you get a new car every three years! No-one mentions the fact if you get laid off, or sick or disabled, then you'll have no car.
People are getting stupider each year with this renting shit.
>>994310
Electricity is a whole nother animal my friend and the stupidest of shit can happen to someone who who doesn't know what they're doing. Insulated screwdrivers can only protect you so much which is why I don't touch electrical besides unscrewing outlet covers. Also another reason is lawsuits/insurance/inspection bullshit that isn't worth going through. Framing/building is harder to fuck up, but I've seen my share of horrors
If it wouldn't be so sad, it could be funny.
/diy/ stuff I learned decades ago is still valid and useful these days. Be it woodworking, plumber-stuff, even basic electrical jobs and all the other minor tricks/skills I picked up during those decades.
The awesome stuff this generation learns and is so proud of is only valid until the next smartphone upgrade is released. I also know quite a bit about fixing computers, but honestly, 90% of this information is useless today because the hardware/software is not available anymore.
Some people spend a lot of time digging through specs to find out the better cpu or gpu; but a year later this is totally useless since it's "old crap".
>>997475
Oldfag here (56). Learnt mechanical stuff from my Dad who used to repair mowers, cement mixers etc for additional cash. Rebuilt numerous cars, plenty of engines inc diesel, gearboxes etc.
2 rental properties got me into electrical, plumbing, general reno work like plastering (still shit at bricklaying though).
Still do electronics shit playing with ESP8266, 'duino, Pi and stuff. Some pneumatics (Halloween freak) and animatronics. Not bad all rounder.
Decided to service my wife's car a couple of years ago. Opened the bonnet, got under the vehicle, got up, shut the bonnet and drove it round to a service centre - without specialist tools you are fucked and I honestly can't be bothered anymore.
Some things are still worth doing - renovating a motor boat at the moment. Glass fibre work is pretty easy, the engine is an older one so still easy to work on.
Things have changed a lot with regard to cars but the rest of the shit you see, not so much. When it comes to mobiles and stuff like that, as far as I am concerned most of it is throwaway. I've had the iPhones and iPads and now just buy cheapo Asian Android stuff - if I break it, it goes in the bin and I buy another. I can buy 7 or 8 Android phones for the price of one iPhone and the Androids will have a higher specification so I figure on one phone a year and I am still quids in. Technology is easy anyway compared to 30 years ago. Linux/Android/OSX is just Unix anyway. As for Microshaft, I use it but I hate the company.
>>997488
I should have added that although I do my own electrical and plumbin work, I make sure it is up to or exceeds local/national requirements and ALWAYS have it signed off by a licensed plumber/sparky - that way I have no insurance issues. Never been told to change anything though.
>>994657
maybe its just my particular social circles but none of the mid 20's people I know will even bother to google an issue.
I went to my friends place for a cookout, his porch, living room and dining rooms circuit tripped 3 months earlier and he never figured out the issue or even thought to ask for help. He just accepted that he'd have to run an extension cord from his bedroom to the living room to watch TV.
>>994440
>OMG if I had the internet and youtard when I was growing up...
if you did, you'd probably waste your youth on minecraft or some other addictive online activity, not being able to achieve what you did in your current life.
