Comment by nocman | Hacker News Reader

Comment by nocman | Hacker News Reader

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While I can see why you might take that as "talking down the youngest generation of adults", I don't think that is necessarily the author's intention.

All three of those examples are things that many people from Gen Z often don't ever do. They are also all still valuable skills that I believe are still worth knowing.

I agree that it is bad to talk down to people just because they are young. It is also bad to dismiss people because they are significantly older than you are. Both parties miss out when those things happen. Younger people often have more energy and free time, and their excitement about what they are learning can be energizing. Older people often have experience that is tremendously valuable. You can learn a great deal from someone with years of experience in a field in which you have interest.

I think one of the unfortunate things about the internet is it is far too easy to default to being combative, and assume the worst about what others are saying. And yes, I include myself in that as well as others.

I don’t quite get the thrust of most of your post beyond that you have a more generous understanding on the quote.

As I get your post based on the amount spent on why it’s bad to dismiss older persons, I don’t think this is really what the article or GP suggested. similarly, I am not sure that it’s fair to say genz often doesn’t do a lot of the mentioned things. GenZ is full of individuals specializing in niche or old fashioned skills and showing the skills off on specific mediums. Coding and repair twitch streams are quite common, just maybe not as much as subjects that are easier to appreciate without much knowledge in the subject. It’s pretty easy for most people to grasp why a contortionist’s skill or someone skilled with sewing has a rare and unique talent. it’s a lot easier to understand what went into it and the precision and the result is very apparent. I think it’s not so clear with subjects like electronics repair as the tech might work afterwards, but there is too much to understand going into it to fully appreciate the result in its own, and thus audiences rely on the presenter to fill the gaps.

The authors examples are good ones if you’re already inclined towards fixing stuff on your own; but if it were me, even with a simple fix like string lights, i’d have a hard time justifying repairs on my own as i’d need to invest into the repair kit and it would be hard to shake concerns on if I did a safe repair or if I made a mistake that needs to be fixed. I imagine it’s like this for many, as even a few years back when I did laptop repair at a university, students (even technical ones) were antsy about such manual repairs and fixes, and often just preferred to put the liability on someone else. for something really disposable like lights, a cheap phone, etc, i can easily get why people of all ages would just prefer a new one.

Soldering is a fun hobby, and i think that the hobbyist community would easily eat it up if they don’t already (i’m positive you can find some electronics repair vids/channels). it is just lacking practical reasons for people to be interested and/or personalities to bring people to it.

In your third paragraph, you point out a few things: 1) the emotional anxiety of doing the repairs, 2) putting the liability on someone else, 3) disposibility or products. You mention these as reasons of why not to do the repair yourself.

All of those reasons are the main critisms of gen Z and millenials! I'm not a boomer, but:

1) Emotions are preventing repairs?? A bit of stoicism is needed. If you have the habit of repairing things, there is no anxiety. In the old hacker culture you'd think it would be a fun opportunity to disassemble and see how it works and repair it.

2) Takes some reponsibility and risks instead of putting the liability on someone else. The end result is people who are less reliant on others, less finger pointing.

3) The article is trying to promote repairing skills instead of consumer culture. Repairing and better built products instead of filling landfills.

You also mention "i'd need to invest into the repair kit"... it's cheaper to repair than buy new! As you collect tools and experience, there's more and more opportunity to repair, which adds more tools and experiences... a great positive feedback loop.

I think you're conflating anxiety with practical caution and a recognition of lack of skill/interest in developing that skill.

Presuming you're not a surgeon, would you be willing to do an appendectomy on someone? It's a typical procedure that is well documented and at this point very routine for most surgeons, and with just a bit of research and practice, you can be doing all sorts of other surgeries.

Emotions AND logic prevent us from doing relatively routine/simple/safe things all the time.

I _can_ solder and do basic electronic repairs; I've done it plenty and in a pinch with enough time to research, I can probably pull it off. I rarely do however, because:

1. It's an investment in time and equipment that I may not have on hand for items that don't need frequent repairs

2. For the electronics I have, it voids the warranty, and if I screw up, then I'm on the hook for everything, so effectively there is a fine for screwing up

3. For most electronics I have around me, they are prohibitively complex and important enough to my day to day that living without them while I learn and research is quite costly

My point isn't that people are too anxious to do repairs, I have no idea how you took this interpretation. I don't trust my electrical engineering skills because I don't have them developed well, so I think it's prudent to not take on an electrical project like house wiring because I lack the experience to ensure it's done well and there is risk if it's done poorly. This isn't anxiety, it's a practical cost analysis. I don't personally need to do such repairs frequently (either by myself or with the help of a contractor), so an investment in these skills falls more under hobby than a practical skillset, and for the items that have needed repair, self-repair means then liability falls on me entirely, and if I do get in over my head, the cost for repair goes up as it's no longer covered under the repair warranty in many cases. That last point arguably is a fault of overly-broad EULAs and Terms of Use contracts, but it is the situation right now whether I like it or not.

Finally, as someone who did do electronics repair (and later programming), there are definitely issues that I was/am tasked with where someone unqualified tried their hand at it first and made what was a minor issue a major problem due to inexperience. I would have vastly preferred that the person(s) never tried to touch the issue since what they did just exacerbated the issue or introduced new issues instead of making it better.

It's a logical and reasonable cost-benefit calculation, and I can absolutely get even as a technically capable person why many GenZ wouldn't want to get into electronics on the basis of repair; it's the wrong introduction in my opinion and carries too high a cost of failure for most of electronics we use in every day life. That is why I think that a hobbyist approach, small electronics projects, etc, are a better gateway into electronics. The cost is failure is quite low (you just don't get whatever you're trying to build), the same skills for making the electronics carries over to repairs and builds the skillset and confidence for making the repairs, and it helps establish the wisdom to better assess if you can DIY or if a specialist is a better choice. All of the people I know who are big into car repair have that wisdom to know when it's better to take it to a shop that has the right equipment and experience versus what can be done at home in the garage.

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