loving art, science and creative kids

Cool Daddy (NFS) 

My son and I painted this award winning picture together. We enjoyed a good meal with the $100 prize money.

Hobbies in the Age of Bots

This is the third in a series of newsletters about survival in the age of bots. It is time to tune into the likelihood of millions of people being laid off because of robotics, automation, and artificial intelligence. The labor force participation rate has steadily declined forcing unemployed people to  occupy their time in some way. How do they do it? The  chart below from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that only 63 percent of working age people are employed, a drop from 67.4 percent 11 years ago. The chart that follows shows unemployment rates by educational attainment.

To live though the next 50 years, students will need expansive ways of thinking about work. The jobs they have as graduates may not give them the satisfaction they crave nor provide them with a purpose for working. Becoming passionately engaged in a leisure time activity may be what they need to do to refrain from sliding into depression or taking drugs. Hobbies can even lead to employment that has nothing to do with college courses or training taken earlier in their careers.

  I’ve spoken to people whose hobbies changed the course of their work lives. It’s been fascinating to see how the way they were educated built self-esteem that helped them become flexible adults able to change direction. Last week I wrote of Dan Stueber, a drummer turned archeologist specializing in stone tools. My youngest son Talik gave me  permission to share the unusual path he is taking.

Brendan Talik Eichinger

To supplement what he was being taught in school, Talik took piano lessons and participated in gymnastics. Summers he attended robotics and computer camps with like minded boys hooked on networked gaming. Before internet was available, we mothers had to drive our sons with their heavy computers to a home where a LAN (local area network) was set up. The boys spent the next several days engaged in fantasy and role playing games, eating pizza (boxes and boxes of it) and sleeping at random hours on the floor or sofa.

  Since he was a hands-on learner, we enrolled our son at Benson High, a vocational school that taught computer programming as well as assembly. Augmenting academic classes, were practical offerings like metalworking, woodworking and small engine repair. Talik was introduced to electrical wiring, electronics and fabrication. After school, he rock climbed, a skill requiring focus and late nights he joined drumming circles held in parks away from those trying to sleep.

  Learning about computers in high school and OSU and a first job as IT specialist, led Talik to  start Mezr, Inc, a web design company for large businesses such as Jack-in-the Box. Though he and his employees work diligently, it is his after work activities I find most unusual. 

  Burning Man’s art/science festival motivated Talik to become a contributing participant.  He moved into a vacant transmission shop, carved out living quarters, and set up a shop filled with tools and large work tables. Wednesday evenings became craft night where 20 to 40 friends arrived to work on their own projects as well as communal ones for the festival. He attracted artists, electronic, light and sound specialists, electricians, welders, designers, woodworkers, and computer programers. There was also a sprinkling of marketers, organizers, accountants and lawyers. Volunteers were there for inspiration and to build community. The sum of the knowledge these people brought became larger than any individual part. They reminded me of my early days of starting a science museum in Michigan. 

  Hobbies have a way of evolving. Tectonic was born when Talik and friends designed, sewed, and assembled a large colorful tent with fire spewing from thirty foot center poles. The tent surrounds a stage where DJs add effects and mix recorded music and bands perform before gyrating crowds. Light sculptures, laser shows, fire dancers, and acrobats provide additional entertainment. When more powerful speakers were needed, they were built in-house. If not needed for festivals, they are rented to events that hire Tectonic to manage sound.  

  After accumulating so much equipment,  logical next step was initiating a summer event. Shift, launched five years ago, takes place in July south of the Dalles. Its grown has been steadily, yet prudent. Advertising is c primarily by word of mouth to discourage drunken ya-ya party-goers. Having attended, I can attest that it is a well managed, artistically interesting, musically immersive venue with safety of great importance.

  Talik’s hobby started, in part, helped counterbalance hours of sitting in front of a computer.  This winter Mezr moved into a 10,000 square foot building. Its subsidiary, Tectonic, has designed it as a place for private parties and music events. An opening bash is scheduled for March 13th  to launch ticket sales for Shift 2020. 

  The festival and music part of Talik’s business is expanding so rapidly that it may overtake his internet design company. What was a hobby has become a second job, causing him to work and worry ‘round the clock. Thankfully, many people passionately share his burden and are employed to help out while others volunteer to maintain the vision of build a community that inspires creativity.

  Each child and every working adult will have to learn to bend, twist, and change direction as the economy and world changes. It is time for educators and parents to help students think creatively, take risks, and discover their passions. A broad liberal arts education with  vocational options  would go a long way to helping the next generation survive in the age of bots.

 References:

     Civilian labor force participation rate (2020)  U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. retrieved from web site at https://www.bls.gov/charts/employment-situation/civilian-labor-force-participation-rate.htm

Yang,A. (2018) The War on Normal People. Hachette Book Group.  ISBN 978-0-316-41424-1, New York, NY.