tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-308340212121889567.post6298767841044642339..comments2024-03-11T09:53:09.705+03:00Comments on Empires of the mind.: An Enduring MythTerry Kiddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03888160718812027224noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-308340212121889567.post-10263659025742253262011-08-10T13:26:13.677+03:002011-08-10T13:26:13.677+03:00Voted this post 'good' 'cause I learne...Voted this post 'good' 'cause I learned a lot from it.<br /><br />Got to read some of the newer stuff you've posted, you've been very active since I last checked.<br /><br />ColumColumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04780753778872137937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-308340212121889567.post-24126578680474395182010-01-16T12:15:08.544+02:002010-01-16T12:15:08.544+02:00Hi Colum,
The comments regarding the Merlin are we...Hi Colum,<br />The comments regarding the Merlin are well told in Sir Stanley Hooker's biography. The airframe production information is derived from various sources. <br />There may be a book there but a better one would be one that considers the entire scope of how industry and the armed forces coexist. Defence procurement is seen, in the UK at least, as much a matter of job creation as military neccessity.<br /><br />I take your point regarding the craft school versus mass production but I think that as far as civil aviation is concerned I'd sooner trust my precious body to an aeroplane that is exactly like the aeroplane that went through certification, rather than one that just has a passing resemblance!Terry Kiddhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03888160718812027224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-308340212121889567.post-53235964961250154382010-01-12T15:34:44.914+02:002010-01-12T15:34:44.914+02:00This is an important statement of the kind of hist...This is an important statement of the kind of historical truth that gets over-ridden by the 'default myths'. You didn't investigate this yourself did you? (If so, I'm impressed, and you should probably write a book about it). <br />People cling to myths that make them feel good, and often don't look too deeply into some of the reasons why of the past. In truth, both stories probably have an element of falsehood, and an element of truth, the past is complex and never comes neatly down to one thing. <br />There is, however, another way at at looking at this. There is a tension between modern industrial methods and human dignity. Although they are far more efficient, 'mass engineering' techniques reduce their practitioners to 'interchangable parts' too. I think this probably was behind a lot of the british fear of these techniques. Suddenly the craftsman, who knows his art to a high-standard, is replaced by many low-skilled workers, each working on a tiny part of a large project, and each interchangable with another if need be. Individuals can no longer produce anything, and everything is made by 'machines made of people'. It works, it's efficient, but suddenly we are all cogs.Columhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04780753778872137937noreply@blogger.com