# Knowledge should be shared



## BritBoxmaker (Feb 1, 2010)

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day

Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime

Discuss


----------



## degoose (Mar 20, 2009)

I agree whole heartedly… I make sure that when I talk to other woodworkers I encourage them to share their knowledge so that it may be passed on and not lost…
I try to practice this philosophy…


----------



## patron (Apr 2, 2009)

if we all share our knowledge and enthusiasm ,
it promotes interest in many corners ,
if we work one by one ,
in secret .
every one looses , 
and the market is harder on us all .

if i can't stay ahead in my own work ,
i don't deserve it .

if i train someone in everything i know ,
and they surpass me , good for them .
mostly i have found help that wants to work with me ,
the next question is usually , 
how much does it pay !

sharing benefits every one ,
look to the dark ages ,
nothing happened ,
because the knowledge was all secret .


----------



## Kindlingmaker (Sep 29, 2008)

Knowledge and the sharing of it promotes greater knowledge. A great vision of one may be just the seed for something even greater and that it turn promotes something great still…


----------



## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Give a man a hammer and he hits his thumb LOL


----------



## Porosky (Mar 10, 2009)

I am the sponge hat absorbs the goodness. I will one day be filled with your knowledge. Then I will release the goodness to the next generation. The wheel continues to turn. The knowledge come full circle.


----------



## Dennisgrosen (Nov 14, 2009)

learn it learn learn it , use it for a while , try to think about what can be done better,
even if it meens you have to invent the wheel once more, then share all your thoughts
and knowledge to two or more
most bee the best a person can do
but the most importen you can teach anybody is learning them how can they learn to learn


----------



## littlecope (Oct 23, 2008)

Nobody knows everything and Everybody has something to teach (and learn!)...
Looking through someone else"s eyes, in terms of methods and procedures, can be truly eye-opening…
But sharing and passing down our history and knowledge is what separates us from the beasts in the first place, isn't it??


----------



## grizzman (May 10, 2009)

i wish i could work for you david..give me a bowl of beans and some bread and im good to go…wish i could come down and do it…i agree with all that has been said…share it all and if your lucky and you find a young person who wants to learn out trade…scoop them up…i think its getting tough out there…im not in it..or i would know more..but just from what i see…...just as a side note here…have you guys seen the latest news with duane moore..its bad news…hes going to need any and ll the help we can give…grizzman


----------



## sras (Oct 31, 2009)

I am reminded of something I heard years ago - "When an older person dies, it's like having to watch a library burn down". Keeping knowledge and information to yourself can end up being nothing more than wasting it. There is a lot of satisfaction in seeing someone else become more informed or skilled from what you know and share.


----------



## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Its a joy to learn and a joy to share . I had that feeling with my beloved father in law passed a loving man with almost 60 years of woodworking behind him and did jobs for many movie stars and crazy projects for Disney like all the very strange very difficult windows for tune town. I only wish my interest in wood working starting earlier where I could have learned some much more from him before his stroke and passing.


----------



## dlmckirdy (Oct 27, 2009)

BritBoxmaker, let me use your recent sander project as an example. I don't have either a Joiner, Planer, nor Wide Belt/Drum Sander. Therefore, I need to spend an inordinate amount of time smoothing projects, thus limiting my productivity (and possible income). You came along and posted your blog, teaching me how to build my own Wide Drum Sander. If I build this Sander, I can also build a jig which will hold an irregular shaped piece of stock, and use the Sander as a (slower) substitute for all three dedicated tools. This will increase my productivity (and possibly income). With any increased income, I could acquire the Joiner and Planer, thus increasing my productivity (and income) considerably (If we did a good enough job, I may not need to upgrade the home built Sander).

Your having shown me how to build the Sander "gave me a fish". My building the sander, and using it to increase my productivity (income) "taught me how to fish, thus feeding me for a lifetime".


----------



## rance (Sep 30, 2009)

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day
Teach a man to fish and he'll sit in a boat and drink beer all day.

I love to teach others. Sometimes I even get paid for it but I enjoy it either way. Ya can't take it with you.


----------



## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

I always thought ignorance was bliss, that is until I started woodworking!

I like what Steve (SRAS) said about losing one mans (or womans ) accumulated knowledge. But it is pretty difficult to transfer that knowledge to others.

I do believe that one of the best ways when it comes to woodworking so far is right here on LJ. Anyone looking for specific info can either search or just ask a question on a forum. Of course LJ isn't the only place. We have the whole net as a resource. It is absolutely the most advanced and powerful learning tool in history, and we don't even have to leave our easy chairs to get it. It also gives you the opportunity to compare several different methods towards the same end and choose the one that fits your tools and skills. This applies to a lot more than just woodworking, but that's a good start! Luckily there are a lot of nice people out there willing to share with others and they can optimize the dispersal of their knowledge in this manner.


----------



## Seer (Jun 5, 2008)

Learning and teaching what you learn is what I believe in, without the things I have read, learned and used from here and another site my skills would be no where by now. What i also do is pass on what I have learned through trial and error in hopes seomeone can make use of them. 
An example: I use a CA finish on my pens and have read or watched every video on how it is done by others, I even had a hands on from a guy in Las Vegas and have used his with a few additions of my own to make it comfortable for me tio use.
Everyone has a a way of doing something and when you pass that on to someone else they may or may not find it easy for them but they learn from this and sometimes adapt it to there situation and may even teach those they learned it from something by making a slight modification to it thereby teaching the teacher something. Knowledge is power but if only one person has the knowledge what use is it.


----------



## richgreer (Dec 25, 2009)

I enjoy learning as much, if not more, than I enjoy doing. I'm so grateful that I live in the internet age. It enables me to learn (and learn a lot) from sites like this one. Also, if I see a wood mentioned that I had not heard of before a quick google search almost always tells me more about the wood. I really like exotic woods and I could never have learned as much as I know now about them without the internet.

I also like to share my knowledge. When I can, I will share my knowledge at this site. Also, I like to attend my local woodworking club meetings where I have, on occasion, provided a demonstration on a technique.


----------



## Gregn (Mar 26, 2010)

If you ain't learning, you ain't living is my motto. A example of this is I built a workshop for a much more experienced woodworker than I. After it was built he said to me that he learned a lot from me. I ask him how was that, his reply was my method of work. So there is always something you can learn from someone no matter the age or experience.


----------



## Triumph1 (Dec 20, 2009)

Teaching people about woodworking gives me the most amazing feeling inside. I love it when someone shows an interest in it and I will try to educate them with any knowledge I have (sometimes I may go a little overboard but hey…woodworking is my passion). In the same way I love it when others do the same for me. When I can I take courses at our local Woodcraft store. It is always a great time and walking away from the course and using that knowledge at home gives a person a great sense of accomplishment. I will always consider myself an amateur woodworker since there is so much for me to learn yet.


----------



## Catspaw (Dec 15, 2007)

One in two is a teacher.


----------



## hObOmOnk (Feb 6, 2007)

From The Talmud:

"When you teach your son, you teach your son's son."


----------



## Cozmo35 (Feb 1, 2010)

1. The day you stop learning is the day you start dying.
2. If you keep your mouth shut and your ears open, you'll learn something (even if by accident)!
3. You learn by your mistakes and others. If you aren't making any mistakes, you aren't doing anything.
4. Mistakes are the cost, knowledge is the equity.
5. You don't have to be the smartest person in the world,... just the smartest person in the room.


----------



## mafe (Dec 10, 2009)

You can only teach, what you have learned,
only spend what you have earned.
So yes we should share our knowledge, no doubt.
And it even have side effects like smiles, happiness and gratefullness.
I used to be a teacher for constructing architects, and nothing could bring me more joy, than when I could see this 'ah ha' in the eyes of the students.
Best thoughts,
Mads


----------



## jusfine (May 22, 2010)

Great subject!

I have had the pleasure of working with 11 real good apprentices, all who have now completed their "paper training" and are on to the beginning of their "journey".

Some had their moments early in their career, others caught on later, we all learn at different speeds.

*"The best way to learn something is to teach it".*


----------



## Mogebier (Feb 4, 2010)

I teach my 6 year-old son new things every day.
Yesterday I taught him that peaches look like butts.

Hey, I can't teach him college-level things every day


----------



## BritBoxmaker (Feb 1, 2010)

lmao, Mogebier


----------



## helluvawreck (Jul 21, 2010)

Well, if you think of this statement in terms of woodworking think about what your doing for a young man, for instance. If you teach him how to use tools your giving him something that can add to his life in so many ways. First of all it helps him to learn responsibility - if he doesn't take care of his tools he won't have them very long. If he disciplines himself to spend time with his tools then he learns that he can add to his skill and knowledge about tools and the material that he works with and so he becomes his on instructor when he does so. Working with tools will will teach him to think, to learn how to plan ahead, to learn how to design, and to even learn from his mistakes. It will teach him the work ethic because he will see that the more he works the more he gains in knowledge, skill, and in the material possessions that he builds with his own hands. Of course, from a practical standpoint, if he acquires the work ethic and has the will and saves a little he will be able to build his own small house and his own small shop building and will be able to fill them with furnishings that he made with his own hands. He will then have given his family a head start financially and if he hasn't a family then he will certainly have his own place while he's waiting for the right young lady to come along. And after a great many years he will have skills, knowledge, and possessions that he created that he can pass right on down to his children and grandchildren in the coming generations. So in a way if you teach a man how to fish then you are teaching the future generations how to fish as well.


----------



## ShawnH (Mar 30, 2007)

If you are the best box maker in the world, that's great. But when your gone all we have is your box. If you share your knowledge and show others how to make a box, someday they too will die, and all we will have is their box. The difference is that between the time you die and the time they die, you will be thought of and spoken of from time to time. Sam Maloof made chairs, but he showed many people how to do it and will be remembered for years to come. Which does not change the fact that we all have a box waiting for us, what matters is how we lived in this life. Hopefully we made it a better, more enjoyable place for others.


----------



## BritBoxmaker (Feb 1, 2010)

*Shawn*, if you show only one other person, individually this is probably going to be true. The person or people you teach may choose to pass the knowledge on themselves to the next generation (see hobomonk's comment). However if you write a record of how to do what you do, whatever that is, in the form of a book, plans , blog etc there is a chance that the knowledge will live on longer. Both of these two things must have happened countless times in the past or we would still be shivering (with no fire) in dark caves living off berries and roots. I have personally read centuries old accounts of how to do things. My parents also showed me how to do things, like cook.

I, myself, have no box waiting for me as I'm going to be cremated but I hope I will have at least done something during my life that adds to or gives pleasure to others, whether I hear about it or not. Its only fair as I have benefitted from the teaching of others, even those long gone.

*Randy*, I agree, trying to explain to others how I have done something has taught me a lot.

I do wholeheartedly agree that we should try to make life better for ourselves and others.

I'm pleasently surprised that this thread had sprung back into life I thought it was exhausted.


----------



## scrollgirl (May 28, 2010)

Nothing has given me more satisfaction or pleasure in my life then when I am teaching someone (either woodworking or painting) and there is that moment when they "get it". It is as if a light goes on somewhere deep in their understanding and I can see an immediate transformation in their entire demeanor. Although it doesn't happen with every student, it happens often enough and makes me want to teach more.

And then there is the other side of the coin where the students are the ones who come up with ways to do things that I haven't even thought of. That is also an incredibly satisfying moment.

Places such as this are wonderful forums for us to feed off of each others ideas, plans and techniques. Everyone here shares their knowledge and encouragement and so many friendships are formed because of our common interest of creating. Helping each other and supporting each other is what it is all about. In doing so, we are all encouraging each other to do our very best and in the long run it sustains woodworking in general.

It is a great environment for both teaching and learning, no matter what our skills are.

Sheila


----------



## lilredweldingrod (Nov 23, 2009)

Wisdom=knowledge at work.


----------

