I remember when a problem was encountered , back in the day , while building , you would strain your brain for however long it took to solve the problem . sometimes the first few tries didn't work , so you'd try again till you figured it out. Often you'd find later that someone else had done it already and sometimes you came up with something original . The point is that it was a thought process. Now days , guys log into a forum and someone tells them how to do something , very little creative thinking there . So , does today's instant information stifle creativity ?I say it does because it negates the problem solving thought process , What say you ??
It's not that different. With the internet, there are just more cyber guys hanging out in the garage or shop. It's people helping people, like always. Not so different than hanging out at the malt shop or car show seeing what others did and asking questions and learning a bit at a time. Since every build is different there are still plenty of custom tweaks to make everything fit and work together. The same questions are being asked but maybe the answers are quicker than the old days. (It seems like there is always more than one answer so you have to think about it and pick one.)
I see your point, but that’s what this forum is all about! I’m only 60 years old, but I’ve learned so much from people on this forum, and I love being able to look up torque specs on my phone right on the spot rather than looking in my Chilton’s manual (which was like an encyclopedia when I was growing up). Honor the old ways, but embrace the new. Now, who’s making my next drink?
Today we have to be creative when figuring out the perfect google search phrase to find the answer to our question. Same creativity, applied in a different way.
Today we have to be creative when figuring out the perfect google search phrase to find the answer to our question. Yeap, that's right. Enter the wrong phrase and get suprised..."Best stripper" for example.
Meh, 6 of one, 1/2 dozen of another. I agree with all the “ brake issue” threads and “ running rough” threads. Yes it’s far to easy to look stuff up n search for an answer as opposed to the diagnostic and methodical process most mechanics use. Why use a vacuum gauge and check 15-20 things , when I can get on the old googalator and get my answer in 5 minutes. But, for me websites like the Hamb have become an inspiration to think outside the box, to try metal fabrication, suspension swaps and builds outside of the “ normal “ bolt on or time tested swaps. Looking at some of the bodywork and metal fab you guys do The little interior do dads that get restored back to pristine condition, the cars hauld out of hollers and creek banks and built into cool shit. I love it and it makes me want to build a 20’or teen era car where 10 years ago I thought guys who did where spun. I dunno glass 1/2 full or 1/2 empty kinda question I guess.
Yeap, that's right. Enter the wrong phrase and get suprised..."Best stripper" for example.[/QUOTE] I get pissed off when I get a pic of a can of Septone...instead of what I REALLY wanted to see
I know the purists will think "What was he thinking?" I was thinking "How can I make a trunk latch out of a garage door T-handle?" (I didn't try googling it.)
Tribal knowledge, nothing wrong with it. Used to be you thought it out yourself or bounced the issue off a couple buddies and came up with a solution, maybe a good one, maybe a half assed one. Now you can you can throw out your question to the troops online and reach hundreds or thousands of guys. One of them may have a way to do it or fix it and possibly in a manner better than you had in mind. At this point we ain't reinventing the wheel here, when it come to these old cars somebody out there has already done it.
I think its quite the opposite sometimes. Seeing standard solutions to problems often results in people looking for another way to do things, possibly not done prior. There are builds on here that prove that point often enough.
Good old Google has saved my skin countless times. Creativity is type of talent, some have more than others in any given field. Kinda like art, or music, or fabrication, or.....
It depends on the individual, there are always people who "think out of the box" and will be the trend setters. There also will be those who want the immediate answer, and aren't concerned how they get it, or in the problem solving aspect of it. I agree for the most part, that fewer people today put the effort into "what makes this thing tick" vs I just want it to work. Typical in todays society "I want it all, and I want it now".
I don't have a smart phone or intarweb connection at the shop (on purpose). When I come across a new problem, I go into DPM (Deep Ponder Mode) with a cigar or a craft beer or both. I do check my proposed solutions the next time I get back to my office internet. When I have a breakdown on the road, first thing I do is smoke a cigar because usually my immediate solution is not the best. A cigar takes about an hour to smoke. If you haven't come up with a solution by then, you aren't going to.
I like it. As others have said,"Why reinvent the wheel when someone else has already done it?" But, you never know what skill level the asker is. Sometimes you can tell but many times not. One thread on ClassicOlsmobile a guy showed a pic of a rear seat bottom pulled out on a 78 Olds and was asking how big of a problem that is. Another asked on FTE if he could put a 2000 Taurus engine in a 1950 Ford Truck- those you can tell....Anyway I sure have gotten a lot of opinions/ answers off this site and others- especially body work... Thanks to all you guys!!
Actually, I discovered this site over a year ago (and have been led here several times) when I was searching for answers to questions I knew others had already asked/answered. One I could have thought through was a dim headlight. The latest was about the caster angle on a gasser axle. I solved the vertical problem with adjustable shocks, and pretty much fixed the lane-wandering with a steering stabilizer. I won't know if 4° additional caster is too much until I try it.
Why was the question even asked? Ideas and information always always HELP creativity. I thought that would be obvious. WHY BE ORDINARY ?
I like doing my own research most of all. Loads on here look for someone else to do their homework for them.
Lot of good advice, but a lot of misinformation and dumb stuff, too. Gotta sort it out weather it's the internet or in person. Sent from my LG-TP450 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
My problem solving tactics have not changed, just the resources have. I use Google a lot to proof my thoughts, look at images, search for a part that might fit my plan, etc. I still do the same problem solving process I used when a row of books and a sketch pad or a trip to the salvage yard for inspiration were the proof process. I actually still use those things also, I just added Google to the mix. I do often get inspiration from other builds or stories/photos that I see on the internet that would not have occurred otherwise. If anything this level of access has increased my creativity as I have been exposed to more. The internet has also added time for creativity where it matters. If I need to fix a fridge or a garage door opener, I just look for the answer on the internet. I don't want to spend a bunch of time reinventing that wheel. Getting a fast and easy answer for those tasks, allows for more time to invest in the wheel inventing I want to do.
I find it funny because it seems every time someone posts an old project that someone tried a "creative" fix with all you see are posts about what some hack did to an old car.
Yeah, it cuts out some with the ease of copying ideas or going to www.hotrodparts.com and ordering things. But it also inspires to push the envelope. Seeing the insane work of others, that you might never see in person changes things too. Overall, I cant complain about the interwebs influence on hot rods.. Were it not for this site I wouldnt have met a lot of guys that I look up to now, or guys that help me out on my builds
What I was eluding to is ; because we have such an overwhelming supply of information , are we losing our capacity for creative and deductive reasoning ? Oh well ... I guess because the only thing that functions well anymore is my mind , I think about stupid stuff ...LOL
Yeah, I had a neighbor/ kinda friend that wanted to go to a wrecking yard. I knew where we were going, how to get there, etc., but he had to keep checking his phone map because "That's the way he did it".
Creativity and deductive reasoning have always been rather rare. A few people have a lot, most don't have much. I doubt the numbers are changing much because of all the info out there.
A couple of years back I was going somewhere with my BIL and his wife, he had the GPS on his phone. We get to the place (parking lot 6 at Jones Beach) and he and his wife are arguing about what the GPS said and what the sign in front of us said... pretty hard to argue with a sign...
People opt for the easy button. I have pads and pens all over, I like to write things down, cross out the bad ideas as I go through the scenarios. Sometimes TOO much information is a detriment. We had this guy at work, not the sharpest knife in the drawer. He would go around and ask 6 people about how to do something and wind up worse off than when he started.