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Skills Not Schools: Lessons from the
Renaissance

Original Article

Posted By: DVC, 5/15/2021 2:02:33 PM

Renaissance education is the foundation of the modern university system. It was based on the concept of the Universal Man or Uomo Universale. As mankind was the ultimate creation of God, it was man’s job to reach his maximum by continual self-improvement. This idea led to the notion that men should try to embrace all knowledge and develop their own capacities as fully as possible. To be a Renaissance man, one must develop his knowledge base as well as his craft. Perhaps no person embodies this concept more than Renaissance artist, scientist, and inventor Leonardo da Vinci. In Leonardo, a duality of the mind and hands is found.

Comments:

I have a bachelor's and graduate university degrees and I work with my hands, too. I understand both sides of this discussion very well. A university education is not the only path.
I learned many skills from my father, and I have taught myself and learned many others from friends. I am proud of my abilities to make things from just raw materials.
My biggest accomplishment is an aircraft, built from scratch, which we have flown to both coasts multiple times, which has flown about 1,000 hours. Close behind is an off grid remote vacation home.
And I have made many other things, large and small, from knives to down-filled mittens, welded household items and precision machine parts.
The author is right, making things has a really human connection with a creative God, and for many of us, a deep satisfaction.

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Reply 1 - Posted by: LadyHen 5/15/2021 2:26:34 PM (No. 786608)
fta: And there is a stigma associated with the vocational track as lesser-than, and for those who can’t muster the academic rigor of the college preparatory curriculum. When you have no AC or heat, your toilet is hopelessly clogged, your car won't start, or any other common everyday real life issue, that stigma seems to go flying out the nearest window and you end up paying out the nose. Funny that! Ds finishes his HVAC certification in December with no debt, a real love of the work, a skill no one can ever take away from him, and he is already being recruited with offers of starting at $25+ an hour work in the commercial field. Also fta: Skilled vocational labor has seen a limited but renewed focus by proponents such as "Dirty Jobs" television personality Mike Rowe and his organization, Mike Rowe Works. Mike Rowe is a national treasure!
11 people like this.

Reply 2 - Posted by: bad-hair 5/15/2021 3:29:12 PM (No. 786647)
Musician (4 instruments) with some virtuosity, electrical engineer, cabinet maker, pilot, ex ship's captain of 25 years, and a few more minor skills. So much yet to do and so little time. So much for blowing my own horn. It distresses me to see children who if they cannot text or Twit are reduced to TikTok.
7 people like this.

Reply 3 - Posted by: EliotRosewater49 5/15/2021 3:31:11 PM (No. 786649)
I am 71 years old. I am a structural engineer. I have always worked with my hands. For the last six months I have worked under contract for a manufacturing plant because I couldn’t stand doing nothing. There I have designed several solutions to problems they were experiencing. I worked with pipe fitters, tinners sheetmetal, Andy millwrights. The satisfaction I get working with these people makes me love going to work. Working with them as they ply their trades I have gained a tremendous amount of admiration in their confidence that they can solve any problem. They easily turn my ideas into reality while we work as equals.
10 people like this.

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Renaissance education is the foundation of the modern university system. It was based on the concept of the Universal Man or Uomo Universale. As mankind was the ultimate creation of God, it was man’s job to reach his maximum by continual self-improvement. This idea led to the notion that men should try to embrace all knowledge and develop their own capacities as fully as possible. To be a Renaissance man, one must develop his knowledge base as well as his craft. Perhaps no person embodies this concept more than Renaissance artist, scientist, and inventor Leonardo da Vinci. In Leonardo, a duality of the mind and hands is found.
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