The Craftsman - Richard Sennett

Written by Richard Sennett
Read by Sean Runnette
Format: M4B
Unabridged

The Craftsman by Richard Sennett is an important book for everyone, but especially for anyone doing any work by hand and for people who thinks the future should be automated.
In my opinion it should be required reading in basic education.
It might be a bit dense in some places but it does present a much-needed perspective on the subconscious human drive to make ourselves useless.

If nothing else you’ll get lots of interesting small facts for your next dinner conversation.

Runtime: 11h5m

From Amazon:
“The Craftsman explores the relation between the hand and the head. Richard Sennett argues that working with physical things stimulates people to think. Craftsmanship, says Sennett, names the basic human impulse to do a job well for its own sake, and good craftsmanship involves developing skills and focusing on the work rather than ourselves. The computer programmer, the doctor, the artist, and even the parent and citizen all engage in a craftsman’s work. In this thought-provoking book, Sennett explores the work of craftsmen past and present, identifies deep connections between material consciousness and ethical values, and challenges received ideas about what constitutes good work in today’s world.

The Craftsman engages the many dimensions of skill - from the technical demands to the obsessive energy required to do good work. Craftsmanship leads Sennett across time and space, from ancient Roman brickmakers to Renaissance goldsmiths to the printing presses of Enlightenment Paris and the factories of industrial London; in the modern world he explores what experiences of good work are shared by computer programmers, nurses and doctors, musicians, glassblowers, and cooks. Unique in the scope of his thinking, Sennett expands previous notions of crafts and craftsmen and apprises us of the surprising extent to which we can learn about ourselves through the labor of making physical things.”