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But i do want to learn more about how my car works, theres very little technology at home that i haven't seen disassembled(washing machine, microwave oven, tv,

But i do want to learn more about how my car works, theres very little technology at home that i haven't seen disassembled(washing machine, microwave oven, tv, pc, mp3 player, cell phone). I've at least skimmed over parts of the source of a lot of software i use daily(emacs, slime, sbcl, HN). Even though i barely understand the electronics in my tv, and even though I've barely scratched the surface of emacs, i still prefer a more hands-on approach to the things i use in my daily life. I've been like this since a very young age, apparently i didn't have any toys that weren't destroyed by my curiosity :) I had the impression that this was true for a lot of people on this site.

DasIch 15y ago
As mentioned in the posts abstractions are leaky. You can't drive a car without having a rough knowledge about how it works or how forces act upon your car but if you drive a hybrid you don't have to know how the engines interact nor do you need to know how energy is stored when you brake. If you are interested in that you take a look otherwise you accept that it just works.
- wccrawford 15y ago
  Actually, all I need to know is the controls and the daily maintenance, like putting gas in it. All the rest can be left to a specialist. I don't have to care anything about why pushing 1 pedal makes it go forward and the other slows it down. Or how turning a wheel changes the direction. Or how various buttons activate various features. They just do, and that's good enough. (I'm not actually ignorant of these things, but it certainly wasn't necessary to learn them. I chose to. It hasn't really helped me much, except to satisfy my curiosity.)