The reading was quite a lot shorter this time, but nonetheless I found it quite interesting. Looking around the room I'm sitting on campus right now, there is just about nothing I can confidently say I know how to make one. The nice chairs, hardwood table, computers, whiteboards and markers, none of these are products I have any idea on how to make. This made me stop, and reflect for a moment on what kind of privilege we have as we go through the day consuming all these things that are made by others, sometimes very distant and disconnected from us.
The idea of backsourcing is quite interesting to me, as just about anything is outsourced and very little is left to be made in an expensive urban center like Vancouver. Thinking back, the last time I made something with my hands were probably very far back, and it's definitely an interesting exercise to try and make something, as the author suggests "even for one small item, creates a heightened sense of self-esteem for the skills learned".
Of course the author is not suggesting that we should go back and make everything for ourselves, living in caves and hunting for our own food, but I think it's very feasible that we learn to knit some clothes, fix our jeans, and maybe have a little garden where you can grow your own tomatoes and green onions (my mom tried to do that but the tomatoes weren't sour enough for some reason and she went back to planting flowers for hummingbirds and butterflies).
The ropes and strings were quite fascinating to watch, as all these complex textiles were often made by machines and we simply brush it off our minds, but seeing the mathematical descriptions for it is refreshing. Our braided cables and ropes and strings to hang stuff is not as simple as we think.
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