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RE What do you say to peo
Subject: RE What do you say to peo
Date: Fri, 09 May 1997 11:07:12 GMT
From: robert.michaels-at-online.sme-dot-org (Robert Michaels)
Organization: Society of Manufacturing Engineers
To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
T> From: Jeremy Bair <pwac-at-flinet-dot-com>
T>When someone approaches you with these question:
T>"Why? Why would you build such a crazy device?". or
T>"What purpose could this device possibly have for you?".
T>(I'm sure you have heard a thousand other variations)
T>How would we respond? I am asked this MORE than enough times maybe
four
T>or
T>five times a day, depending on who is around. I've been asked by my
T>parents, by friends, and by some nosy teachers (like some who have
seen
T>my
T>strange photographs, you know, of my secondary, my caps etc).
T>< Thoughts? Comments? Notes? Please place below this line ;>
There are as many answers to your question as there are men
in the hobby. Here's a few of my (highly) random thoughts:
It's like making love (and no condom necessary): you get
the strong feeling that you are toying with very
primary forces; that you are close (or closer to)
the very essence of nature.
It's alot like making love for the first time: a sense of
risk, uncertainty, entering into a forbidden
realm, crossing an emotional and societal threshold.
It's dangerous to a greater or lesser degree -- you are con-
fronting this danger and overcoming it, mastering it,
bending it to your will, and coming out unscathed.
It's a rush - which at least equals the rush obtainable
from the recreational use of drugs. And it's
street-legal. And is comparatively free from the
danger of long-term side-effects. (It may/may not
be cheaper).
It's an opportunity to get a practical (and some theoretical)
grounding in electrical science.
It's an opportunity to hone one's mechanical and crafts/
fabrication skills.
It teaches one respect for nature and natural forces.
You are dabbling in a field which (so far) has escaped full
scientific understanding and mathematical analysis
and which utterly defies absolute quantitative meas-
urement with existing instruments. Hence - some
chance of breaking new ground -- a thing which
nowadays is virtually impossible for most investi-
gators on an individual basis.
You are an historic preservationist, honoring (and perhaps
extending) the work of one of the greatest elec-
trical engineers who ever was.
It's on balance healthier and more socially beneficial than
hanging out in bars, cars, or on street corners. It
keeps you home on nights and weekends and (at mini-
mum) in proximity to your family.
It's a practical extension of any formal studies in physics,
electrical engineering/technology, (to some degree
chemistry) -- an object lesson in the divergence of
practical application and theory.
But -- most of all -- it's F U N !!
- - - - - - -
Your own answers are not bad -- but the greater included
question is: =If= you enjoy Tesla-ing, why do you have
as us to tell what is good about it?
High as kite (street-legally)
in -- Detroit, USA
Robert Michaels