Raymond Tallis

A friend, Tim, brought a great book to my attention and sent me a youtube link to an interesting presentation by British author Raymond Tallis. His 2003 book, The Hands: A Philosophical Inquiry into Being Human was one I’d never read. The video is worth watching. https://youtu.be/gsfP4Miwpfw

A point that should be made about my book, the Wisdom of Our Hands, is how it differs from previous explorations in the same field. 

Where books like Tallis’s (also Frank Wilson’s the Hand, and Sennett’s the Craftsman) explore from a philosophical and scientific angle, mine explores from a foundation of personal experience and thereby attempts to illustrate the same points from a more personal (and hopefully accessible) perspective. It attempts to show how a philosophy based on the hands can bring direct change for the better. 

In other words, Tallis is looking at the hands from the standpoint of a university professor. I’m looking from the other direction, where knowledge leads to action and people have the opportunity and encouragement to do something about what they know. The fields in which we take action, are within family, community, nation, human culture, and within ourselves and crafts are key.

I'm spending time with Rosie on the porch, making boxes in the wood shop, and preparing for a weekend class at ESSA, making Tiny Boxes based on my book of the same title.https://smile.amazon.com/Tiny-Boxes-skill-building-box-projects/dp/1631864475/

If you have an artisan or wannabe artisan in your life and would like to encourage them in their labors, my book the Wisdom of Our Hands would be a great gift. If you are an artisan and would like others to better understand you, The Wisdom of  Our Hands would be a great gift.

Make, fix and create... Assist others in learning likewise.