Matthew Crawford (in a comment on Substack):

Apprenticeship is dismissed as being too narrow an education; what is wanted is workers who are flexible and ready to reinvent themselves at any time. But when you go deep into some art or skill, it trains your powers of perception. One becomes more discerning about this particular class of objects or problems. If all goes well, you get initiated into an ethic of caring about what you are doing, usually by the example of some mentor who exemplifies that spirit of craftsmanship. You hear the disgust in his voice as he surveys something done shoddy, or quiet admiration. What I mean to say is that technical education, though narrow in its immediate application, can be understood as part of education in the broadest sense: intellectual and moral formation. And…it offers a crucial counterpoint to the virtual.

currently listening: Thank God We Left the Garden by Jeffrey Martin

I don’t remember the last time an album captivated my imagination the way this one has. The songs are beautifully subdued; Martin’s voice takes center stage, accompanied only by acoustic (and occasionally classical) guitar. The lyrics are poetic, earnest, and existentially-charged. The title means precisely what you’d think it means, and it offers a thematic through line that binds the entire 11-track album together. In my judgment, Thank God We Left the Garden is a masterpiece.