Chapter 5

This chapter illustrates the ingenuity of man in building machines to ease the way of living in the absence of electric power and with limited technology. Despite the author’s cool realization of how skill is expanding “when the quantity of machine shrinks”, I found parts of the chapter hard to read, and was confused by the description of inventions such as the ram and the water mill. That may just prove the author’s point that the more basic human know-how gets lost with the use of technology. However I strongly believe that overall human knowledge today is far greater because of advancements in technology.

In the beginning Eric seems hesitant at the idea of getting running water and possibly compromising his experiment, but throughout the chapter he comes to realize that these people aren’t afraid of all technology and actually embrace some of it. For example, I found the versatility of the wood cookstove pretty impressive. In addition, all of the inventions seem so much better for the environment than their electric counterparts.

The parts where the author struggles with the cultipacker contraption and is being chased by the cattle were funny. Discovering how to run the machines gives Eric a sense of accomplishment, similar I believe to any learning of a new skill, while the chase by harmless baby steers leaves the author a little embarrassed.

Chapter 4

Chapter four reinforces the feeling of togetherness even more so as it seems that the very reason why the community is choosing to forgo technology is because they seek that camaraderie that natural occurrences generate an opportunity for. Furthermore, when nature doesn’t do its’ job, Mr. Miller artificially creates the adversity himself, such as taking down the maple tree in front of the author’s house. I find this to be an idealistic view of just looking at occurrences a different way, welcoming and actually creating obstacles and seeing them as occasions. Although I can see the point, I must admit this is very different form what I am used to: I’m certainly not a fan of obstacles, and would not go out of my way to create them, but once they happen I found it’s best to accept them and do whatever necessary to overcome them.

It’s interesting to see that most of the community members are not traditionally Amish, but they have chose this lifestyle for various theological and ideological reasons. Mr. Miller lists some of the negative effects that a more technologically advanced habitat could have on his children: underage drinking, teenage pregnancy and drug use. Therefore, by minimizing technology this community is trying to preserve its’ purity and religious beliefs.

Chapter 3

I find the third chapter to be a good illustration of the concept of teamwork. Eric and Mary are being pleasantly surprised by the Millers’ and Jones’s constant willingness to help. It is the very lack of technology and the nature of the tedious work that revolves around the garden and food preparation (i.e.: hoeing vegetables, cultivating, weeding, canning food) that brings people together in magical way. This bond has the potential to be even stronger than that of a regular work team, since the actual subsistence of people is involved, meaning that they have to be able to cultivate their garden in order to survive in the winter. Therefore, the families in the community feel the need to show the newcomers how do the necessary tasks better. As the physical aspect of work fades into the background, friendships are formed through working together and having meaningful conversations.

Work is being seen as an occasion to do something else, and I can see how focusing too much on the mechanics of the job actually makes the work fastidious and less efficient. Also, I like how the author describes how not even dull and tiresome work such as that of bean picking and weeding doesn’t seem that bad once you realize it has to be done, start doing it and don’t even realize how you detach yourself from your body and get lost in thoughts and conversations. In way I could say that I was using a similar “laborsaving mechanism” when I used to do a lot of conditioning and physical training for tennis.