iKnife Collector
The online community of knife collectors, A Knife Family Forged in Steel
Education — A Precious Thrill
Don't you really, really like to learn something new? Some giant revelation? Some little tip or trick that makes something come into focus? Some fact that makes a project do-able? I certainly do.
It pleases me a lot when I can learn something from an old pro who knows a really special insight about the history of knives: Scott King has opened my eyes to the Elephant Toenail (http://www.elephanttoenails.com/) knife which is just too cool to put away as an untouched collector's piece. I carry mine in my pocket every day, and everyone I show it to says "WOW!" just like I did. I cut open boxes, my apples and pears, my mail, and whittle.
It's especially nice when I can pass on some knowledge to a younger person.There's something special about becoming twelve years old. I remember vividly. I was in the Boy Scouts, already a Patrol Leader, won a couple of fire starting contests at camp and had learned to cook bacon without burning it. I almost knew everything. But that was fifty years ago, and the world has gotten larger every day. Two things have changed.
1. I sure don't know everything any more. Some of the younger folks around here are having some luck teaching me to make You Tube vids. One of the smartest says "Edit — Edit — Edit — don't make a nine minute vid to show two minutes worth of knife!!" and that seems a good lesson to learn.
2. Some of the more experienced members think I've settled down a little, and they're teaching me some of the "trade secrets" they've learned over the years. "Forehead Slappers" — the kind of stuff I should have figured out, but didn't.
So what I've learn was what I knew when I was 12, that education is the best gift you can give or get. And the method should match the second group of three points in the Scout Law: "Helpful, Courteous and Kind."
As our membership nears the 1000 mark, there's one thing I've learned from being one of the first handful — there are a lot of people who want to know something that I already have some experience with, and absolutely every person here has something to teach me.
It pleases me a lot when I can learn something from an old pro who knows a really special insight about the history of knives: Scott King has opened my eyes to the Elephant Toenail (http://www.elephanttoenails.com/) knife which is just too cool to put away as an untouched collector's piece. I carry mine in my pocket every day, and everyone I show it to says "WOW!" just like I did. I cut open boxes, my apples and pears, my mail, and whittle.
It's especially nice when I can pass on some knowledge to a younger person.There's something special about becoming twelve years old. I remember vividly. I was in the Boy Scouts, already a Patrol Leader, won a couple of fire starting contests at camp and had learned to cook bacon without burning it. I almost knew everything. But that was fifty years ago, and the world has gotten larger every day. Two things have changed.
1. I sure don't know everything any more. Some of the younger folks around here are having some luck teaching me to make You Tube vids. One of the smartest says "Edit — Edit — Edit — don't make a nine minute vid to show two minutes worth of knife!!" and that seems a good lesson to learn.
2. Some of the more experienced members think I've settled down a little, and they're teaching me some of the "trade secrets" they've learned over the years. "Forehead Slappers" — the kind of stuff I should have figured out, but didn't.
So what I've learn was what I knew when I was 12, that education is the best gift you can give or get. And the method should match the second group of three points in the Scout Law: "Helpful, Courteous and Kind."
As our membership nears the 1000 mark, there's one thing I've learned from being one of the first handful — there are a lot of people who want to know something that I already have some experience with, and absolutely every person here has something to teach me.
Add a Comment
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Comment by kage on December 31, 2009 at 20:25
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Sometimes education is over-rated. What seems to me to be a more pressing need is that for edification. Boiled down to its bare essence, education is simply knowledge for the sake of knowledge, while edification can be categorized as knowledge for a moral purpose.... Public Education with Private Edification should be more of the norm. ;)
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Comment by J.J. Smith III on December 11, 2009 at 16:33
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The secret about education is that not only does the "student" learn something, but often times the "teacher" learns something as well.
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