[alexiskai]

Originally Posted by BRENT in 10-uh-C

Something else to ponder, think about how many Model-As were restored 30-50 years ago by hobbyists who did not have YouTube nor Les' book to refer to when they worked on their Model-A. By comparison, think about how many fewer Model-As are being restored today (or the last decade or so) by hobbyists, and even how many hobbyists struggle with the simplest of Model-A tasks (as evidenced by the questions asked on social media and online platforms).

I know this discussion is getting a little meta, but this brings up an important point. What's the difference between the hobbyists of the '70s and '80s (yes, the '70s are 50 years ago, we're all old) and today?

The Model A community is what E.C. Wenger calls a "community of practice." In a CoP:

• A domain of knowledge creates common ground, inspires members to participate, guides their learning and gives meaning to their actions.
• Practitioners of a particular craft share tips and best practices, ask questions of their colleagues, and provide support for each other.
• The amount of time spent "reinventing the wheel" is reduced.
• Members who demonstrate expertise and experience acquire social capital and respect.

Overlapping with the Model A CoP, there's also a distinct "virtual" CoP, a community in which the members rarely or never meet in person. Instead the domain of knowledge is transmitted online, through text and media. Everyone reading this is a member of the Model A VCoP, but not everyone reading this is a member of the "real world" CoP. And I think that's the root cause of a lot of the tension in these discussions.

You see, one of the core functions of a CoP is to transmit what's called tacit knowledge. Tacit knowledge is all the knowledge about a craft that's difficult or impossible to transmit using language. For example:

• how something should look, feel, or sound when it's running properly
• what a particular appearance or noise indicates about a problem
• how much force a particular component can take
• how much of a liquid product to use (grease, RTV, paint) and the best way to apply it
• techniques for nuanced tasks like shaping sheet metal or applying pinstripes

This is distinct from explicit knowledge, which is the knowledge that can be recorded in books or described on a message board. A VCoP, by its nature, is going to be bad at transmitting tacit knowledge. One of the very few ways to do this is through video. But most videos don't have the intent of transmitting tacit knowledge, and the ones that do often don't succeed.

Originally Posted by Jack Shaft

abstract thought and attention to detail, critical for developing a mechanics skill are lost in videos...The ability to visualize complex functions and the reading of 'witness marks' during assembly of a repair are learned skills, not taught.

The sentiment above is correct in the sense that videos rarely do this, but it's wrong in the sense that you could do this in a video. There's nothing inherent in the medium that prevents it – what prevents it is that most video makers don't invest the time or have the underlying skills to accomplish it. The skills in question are both the "domain" skill, i.e. that you have to be able to correctly read the witness marks and understand the system spatially, and the pedagogic skill, that you have to know how to transmit that knowledge to someone over video. It's not just a problem with video; there are many master craftsmen out there who are terrible teachers even in person.

If videos aren't transmitting tacit knowledge – and frequently aren't even transmitting explicit knowledge – then the virtual CoP will never achieve the level of craftsmanship that the real-world CoP can achieve. And I think this is why a lot of folks who came up in the traditional CoP dismiss videos as a learning tool, and it's also why, to circle back to Brent's question, modern hobbyists often struggle with simple tasks. They aren't part of a CoP that would allow them to learn those tasks through what's called legitimate peripheral participation:

Newcomers become members of a community initially by participating in simple and low-risk tasks that are nonetheless productive and necessary and further the goals of the community. Through peripheral activities, novices become acquainted with the tasks, vocabulary, and organizing principles of the community's practitioners. Gradually, as newcomers become old timers and gain a recognized level of mastery, their participation takes forms that are more and more central to the functioning of the community. LPP suggests that membership in a CoP is mediated by the possible forms of participation to which newcomers have access, both physically and socially... If newcomers can directly observe the practices of experts, they understand the broader context into which their own efforts fit. Conversely LPP suggests that newcomers who are separated from the experts have limited access to their tools and community and therefore have limited growth. As participation increases, situations arise that allow the participant to assess how well they are contributing through their efforts, thus LPP provides a means for self-evaluation.

The problem, though, is that the virtual Model A CoP is not going anywhere, and in fact it's going to be critical for the preservation and transmission of this body of knowledge over the next 100 years. The CoP that a lot of older members grew up in, which encompassed not just the Model A knowledge domain directly, but also the familiarity with tooling and machine maintenance that was much more common just one generation ago and that was passed down both in families and through industrial jobs – that CoP is a shadow of what it once was. If you want the Model A body of knowledge to live on, you have to be willing to engage with the VCoP and want it to succeed as a viable entry point and partner to the CoP that exists in clubs and swap meets.

That means two things: first, the quality of the videos has to get better, because like it or not those videos are how a lot of these skills are being transmitted. That means more people have to be out there publishing videos and practicing that craft, the craft of making instructional videos. Second, at least some of the people who are master craftsmen in the real-world CoP have to start making videos, because otherwise the "master craftsmen" of the VCoP will just be the guys who are willing to make the videos but don't have the skill set.

Speaking to the master craftsmen out there, you guys have a ton of tacit knowledge that you could be transmitting to this VCoP purely through videos just of you doing your work. You don't have to launch at a high level of video skill. You could just start with static setups, speak off the cuff, comment on whatever occurs to you. As long as the audio is clear and the angle allows us to see your work, that's an important contribution. Let other folks put out the slick, polished productions.