Thursday, June 16, 2016

killing time 4 of 5


KILLING TIME 4

For killing time during the Die-Off ( the duration will not be measured by the end of hostilities-that will never end as the time between violence is far less in decentralized social groupings- but by the insane levels of people dying off ), I would suggest you show hesitation in doing What Is Expected Of You By The “Experts”.  Training, to be effective, is a life long process which not only reinforces what you’ve already learned but incrementally improves.  Take for instance a really good cook.  She started as a very young lass and has been at it ever since.  Look at my writing.  I sucked when I first started.  Twenty years ago I was barely tolerable.  Ten I had just started getting mad skills.  Today I am brilliant but in ten more years I will make today’s efforts laughable.  Look at your job.  You can do it in your sleep ( which you probably have to since you need two jobs anymore ) but more importantly you are always improving.  Your company lays you off to save 25% payroll and gets someone at most 10% as effective.  Training is an ongoing process ( I don’t just Read Books, but continue my lifelong college ).  You can learn very, very little from cramming in all the perceived needed training to help you survive.  Even if you start now, but especially in a month or three of a stressful bug-in.

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You still need training, for if nothing else there is familiarization.  But eight hours a day trying to learn wild plant identification, knapping, military tactics, wilds navigation, passive solar systems and about a hundred other skills?  Not on your life.  Learning things like anthropology and grand strategy might be perfectly suited for the classroom but most things you need to learn are necessarily tactile.  You need to actually go through the motions to develop muscle memory ( any physical sensation implanting into your brain at a subconscious level the lessons-so for instance the cook needs to smell and see results, the squad rehearsing tactics needs to work under exertion and adrenaline, etc. ).  Long ago, management theory applied to the military became one of mass classroom teaching.  It did NOT produce superior results, but it did produce Close Enough For Government Workers who, quickly trained, quickly flooded the battlefields and, with insane amounts of supplies, predominated.  We took a facsimile of the Germans training and mated it with the Russians mass produced war machine ( slightly improved which usually meant a degree of sophistication added which made a slight dent in the casualty rate ) and called it a day.  Not too long after, the civilian workplace started applying this slowly but surely until you can’t even cut hair without a years training. 

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How the military and the corporate world trains people is NOT the right way to do things, but the cheap and One Size Fits All way.  You train by doing, and never stopping the doing.  That is why barbarians train warriors for a lifetime and nations train soldiers in a matter of weeks.  Tribes need proficiency and quality, not quantity to amount to nearly the same thing ( one way keeps you alive much better than the other.  Sorry, but people trying to train you Just Like The Government are training you to die for the government, not how to survive ).  Book training is JUST a start and JUST an outline, NOT training in most endeavors.  It is great training to be able to train someone else in book training, that is about it.  By all means, have your vast library of digital books.  It is Better Than Nothing.  You can’t survive and thrive without knowledge.  But those books ( and when I say digital, of course paper is so much better-but if it is digital or nothing, go electronic.  DVD blanks are twenty-five cents in bulk for back-ups and there will be enough computer junk and batteries around long enough to transfer the important stuff to paper ) are almost all current training manuals and suspect, as such.  You only need books to kick-start apprenticeship programs and those preserving knowledge that can be applied to any training.

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Hence, most military manuals are crap.  I’d feel safer with a batch of biographies recounting 4th generation warfare, insurgency, guerilla tactics and the like than every military manual ever produced ( they have their place, just don’t idolize them ).  They are flawed training manuals rather than compilations of knowledge.  See the difference?  Your library needs to be knowledge based, and non-petroleum age based.  And you need to study that library.  Along with whatever You-Tube videos you feel are valuable ( at least with video’s you have visual feedback, a step up from mere reading for hands-on skills ).  Saving vids are a whole skill set of added software and hardware, and they obviously have a time limit, but don’t discount them-they can be very practical.  I’ve read more than a few Stone Age wilds survival books and they taught me less than a couple of those crazy Aussie teaching videos ( the waddle and daub shelter, the fire crafted clay roof, the near-instant firestarter that added a stone weight to the twirling stick ).

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I hope I’ve placed current training books in context.  Needed, but used with caution.  Entertainment is a lot easier, as is exercise.  That will, thank all the gods, finally, wrap up this series.  Tomorrow.

END

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14 comments:

  1. Exactly my feelings on the matter. I am a self taught builder. I read for over a decade, and associated with those who build professionally for years, but when I got the chance to start applying my building "knowledge"? I missed things, skipped important steps, thought things were good enough that weren't and I have to go back and correct. Fortunately it has been just been basic structures without much value (storage sheds and now a garage/storage building) and mostly recyclable parts. Also adapting to the building in a different environment (the wind storms of the great plains are strong enough to pick up even screwed down OSB boards and move them over a dozen yards...)
    I am making head way, and hoping to try out a few of the alternative techniques I want to use (earthbags) before building the actual live in structure. But the instinctive "this can be skipped, this is essential, this is too hard, this is easy" that people think they already have, they don't until they get their hands on the actual experience of a period of time.

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    1. On the one hand, we need books for rebuilding and retraining, but on the other don't have the time or money to do so now. Or even the inclination-few people put too much effort into non-hobbies if it doesn't pay-off.

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    2. Oh, without an instructor and lots of practice the books are essential, and even with instructor and practice the books provide new insights ideas and options that the instructor missed skipped over or neglected to point out.
      Truly you need at least two of the three (books, instructors, experience) to get even half way decent results from anything.

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    3. Took me a long time to realize that doing things the wrong way is the most valuable learning experience as long as you accept it that way. Don't get me wrong, I don't like doing things wrong. But by doing so causes you to search for alternative methods and also allows you to recognize the steps that led to the error in the first place. Look for the good and bad in all things and learn from them.

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    4. I learned the right way to build underground by screwing up my small "test pit". I went through twenty five years of terrible relationships before I realized my mistakes with women. Fast on some things, real slow on others...

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    5. Relationships especially are tricky because they are always evolving growing and changing. 20+ years with one woman now, and everything is different and yet the relationship itself is stronger than ever (IMHO).
      People grow and change.
      Of course that fact also needs to be included in ones preps. Your best friend you trust with everything today may turn on you- it wont be tomorrow (probably) but it could happen eventually, and watching for how people and your relationships with them are changing is key to surviving the changes.
      Just like watching how what your building is working out *(or as in my case so far the building isn't), adjust your plans and learn what lessons you can for the next one.

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  2. Digital books are definitely better than nothing James. I hate to admit it, because I was slow to moving over to them, but in many ways I like them better now, and I don't like that. They are convenient, and don't take up any more physical space that I am already lacking (RV dweller) and I've really grown fond of the dictionary feature. The reason that I don't like them is because they're too dependant on a continuing infrastructure.

    I think the key with digital how to manuals is to concentrate on those that teach in a manner that is straight forward, and easy to remember, so try and read through the free samples when ever available before purchasing. Like that video the other day that I posted on reloading primers. Easy enough that watching it once or twice will etch it into your memory well enough.

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    Replies
    1. I'm with you on hating to admit their utility, as we are reinforcing a negative trend. But it is just getting ahead of an inevitable trend-paper and shipping costs are getting bad and will get worse. Buy the "for the ages" reference books in paper now while you can.

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    2. Agreed - electronics WILL break down eventually.
      BUT a KISS principle can certainly help extend the life of the device, along with proper armoring and treatment. There is no reason that an electronic device can't last several decades even with frequent use IF the device was well designed and used. Keeping writing paper and utensils near by for post collapse notes would also be a good idea - eventually you or your descendants could use the copious notes primarily only using the electronic device to fill in any holes.

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    3. My experience shows much shorter than decades. I recently broke my 5 year old ereader and tore into it to figure out what went wrong. The power switch pulled away from the circuit board, taking the traces with it so repair wasn't practical. With some of the small components used these days you need a microscope to do some repairs. The mechanical portions are likely to die before the electronics (except maybe the capacitors), and a consumer level evaluation of well designed isn't all that practical. So beware putting too much long term trust in your etoys. Similarly with printing, even if you have electricity (solar cells and whatnot) your ink/toner refills may not be available. So yes, get those Books For The Ages while ya can.

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    4. Modern units with chips are really a near miracle. So cheap, compared to the pre-Internet days; hell, compared to the pre-Prez Shrub days, that you should expect them to be anything other than disposable. Which, BTW, takes a lot of silver out with them. And Peak Silver was when, class? Almost a decade ago. Buy silver while you still can, along with those paper books.

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    5. Corrected: "you SHOULDN'T expect them to be anything..."

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    6. Tried to reply to Anonymous but kept getting a javascript error. Hmmm...

      Anyway, some how I missed the video about reloading primers, can anybody steer me to it? Thanks.

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    7. Here it is Ghostsniper. I'll repeat it in the latest article as well.

      How To Reload Primers with Matches

      By Grant Thompson - "The King of Random"

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_7LWCFH5Gc

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