Well, after meeting with Shaowen it turns out that I don’t know, entirely, how to verbalize what I’m actually interested in. For instance, my previous post talks more about the communication between DIYers (ie Steampunkers as my case study) rather than the actual doing of DIY.

But I like the doing of crafting. The doing and the reflecting. How does this relate to HCI, though? I’m not sure yet. Maybe in terms of the process, and how it is different from the computer science way of producing. Everyone is a designer, right, in one form or another?

Shaowen admonished me to remember that this isn’t just about the doing of crafting, as the reflecting about the doing is as important to DIYers. It’s like how the Greeks saw wisdom as both the mind and the hand, rather than how we see it now, as mind (artist) being separate from hand (craftsman), where only the mind can be wise.

So maybe I’m looking at the tacit plus reflective knowledge, and what it means. How does it affect me as a person, my identity, my sense of creativity? I’m not sure. But class is about to begin and I like taking notes in my sketchbook, so I’ll have to pontificate more later.