Thread: On Fine Woodworking Website

G'day Doug, I really enjoyed your article, and would look forward to hearing about your trip to Finland. One quote that I feel devalues the unique nature of mankind is Thomas Carlyle who said: “Man is a tool-using animal. He can use tools, can devise tools; with these the granite mountains melt into dust before him; he kneads iron as if it were soft paste; seas are his smooth highway, winds and fire his unwearying steeds. Nowhere do you find him without tools; without tools he is nothing, with tools he is all!”
I think that whenever we think of mankind as only an animal it detracts from that very uniqueness that enables people such as "woodworkers" to appreciate the beauty and complexity of what they build and see. An example would be that a dog (or for that matter any animal) cannot and does not know that a created piece of furniture such as a Sam Malouf rocking chair is truly a beautiful piece of craftmanship. So to say that man is a tool-using animal is really putting mankind into the realm of never being able to appreciate any kind of craftmanship, which clearly he can. If that is the case then you have to ask yourself why can we appreciate the craftmanship and the beauty of anything in this world...and the answer must be that we are not animals but a unique creation. I am humbly just posing the thought of our uniqueness.
I love the term and concept of the wisdom of the hands.
Keep us posted about your trip.

Hi Doug,

I too, enjoyed the article. Thanks for letting us know.

Cheers
Wendy

Doug

great article
hope the talk goes exceptionally well

Originally Posted by Yawally

So to say that man is a tool-using animal is really putting mankind into the realm of never being able to appreciate any kind of craftmanship, which clearly he can. If that is the case then you have to ask yourself why can we appreciate the craftmanship and the beauty of anything in this world...and the answer must be that we are not animals but a unique creation. I am humbly just posing the thought of our uniqueness.
I love the term and concept of the wisdom of the hands.
Keep us posted about your trip.

We are certainly capable of being more than animals, and there are days, when our behavior and attitudes towards creation are somewhat off the mark. So, I guess it depends on which day or which direction we are watching. I was reading this morning that migrating birds may actually be able to see fine lines of the earth's magnetic fields, so there are animal perceptions that are more finely tuned than our own. And there is some suspicion that a decline in whale populations is due to ocean noise from freighter and tankers, largely unobserved as we cruise merrily across the surface of the oceans. So humans can be incredibly sensitive or incredibly insensitive. If we appreciate human craftsmanship but destroy the rest of creation, iI would not feel inclined to think that humans are superior to animals, but rather something less.

Anyway, I'll hope for the best, and we will keep a good thought that we can surpass Carlyle's assessment. And I'll post a report from Helsinki.

Doug

Fascinating reading Doug. Almost as enjoyable as your box making books. Have fun in Finland.

Great article, Doug. Best wishes for an enjoyable reception over yonder.

I don't remember the context, but I once remarked to a young colleague that a distinction between apes and humans is that the human makes his own tools. Not entirely correct, of course, because apes have been seen to fashion crude tools from bones and tree parts; quote it if you like.

Joe

Great article. However, one small correction.
Sloyd was not developed as a system of woodworking education more as a handicraft education by Uni Cygnaeus.
Sløjd(Danish) ,slöjd (Swedish)sløyd (Norwegian) slöghð (Finnish) is a word probably as old as the language itself and simply means craft of any kind done in a workshop from any material but not including textile craft which is called by a different name roughly translated as "Handwork".
Uno Cygnaeus was the first educator who introduced slöghð (Finnish) into the education system (1865).
Wolffie