#658: In Praise of Maintenance in a World Obsessed With Innovation

#658: In Praise of Maintenance in a World Obsessed With Innovation

Humans like starting new things much more than taking care of older things. This is true on both an institutional and individual level: it's more exciting to build a new road than to maintain it; more exciting to lose weight than to keep it off. There's plenty of short-term pleasure and intrinsic motivation when it comes to pursuing something novel, but the effort to keep up unsexy maintenance on what we've already got takes real intent.

My guest today says we've lost that intent and need to revive it. His name is Lee Vinsel and he's a professor of science, technology, and society, the co-founder of The Maintainers, a research network dedicated to the study of maintenance, repair, upkeep, and ordinary work, and the co-author of The Innovation Delusion: How Our Obsession With the New Has Disrupted the Work That Matters Most. Lee and I begin our conversation with how our cultural focus on innovation has come at the expense of attention paid to maintenance and repair, and yet how talking more about innovation hasn't really led to greater progress. We then get into the way the necessity of maintenance, repair, and caretaking has been neglected in business and government, creating a situation where we keep on building new things without investing in the upkeep of our current infrastructure. From there we turn to the way our all too common neglect of maintenance applies not only to big institutions, but also our personal lives, as in the areas of home ownership and health. We discuss how there's less incentive these days to repair things in our disposable society where everything is cheap, and stuff is harder to fix, even when we want to. We end our conversation with how we can revive a maintenance mindset in our culture and individual lives.

Get the show notes at aom.is/maintenance.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jaksot(1158)

Episode #22: Raising Cain With Dr. Michael Thompson

Episode #22: Raising Cain With Dr. Michael Thompson

Statistics show that American boys are in trouble. They’re more likely to have depression, abuse alcohol and drugs, and perform poorly in school. What can we do to help these troubled boys? To get som...

3 Huhti 201419min

Episode #21: No More Mr. Nice Guy With Dr. Robert Glover

Episode #21: No More Mr. Nice Guy With Dr. Robert Glover

We've all heard the phrase "Nice guys finish last," right? Why is that? Why do the men whose women friends tell him he'll make a great catch never have a date come Friday night? Or why does the guy wh...

3 Huhti 201420min

Episode #20: Freemasonry and Manhood In American History with Robert Davis

Episode #20: Freemasonry and Manhood In American History with Robert Davis

Welcome back to another episode of the Art of Manliness podcast. In this edition, we talk to Robert Davis about the history of masculinity in America and Freemasonry's influence on American men. Rober...

3 Huhti 201438min

Episode #19: Mad Men and Manliness with Mad Man’s Rich Sommer

Episode #19: Mad Men and Manliness with Mad Man’s Rich Sommer

Welcome back to the podcast! In this week's episode we talk to actor Rich Sommer who plays ad man Harry Crane on AMC's hit drama Mad Men. We discuss Mad Men's take on mid-century masculinity, how star...

3 Huhti 201418min

Episode #18: Gritty Stories From the Wild West With Matthew Mayo

Episode #18: Gritty Stories From the Wild West With Matthew Mayo

Welcome back to the Art of Manliness Podcast!In this week's episode we talk to author Matthew Mayo. Matt has recently written a book called Cowboys, Mountain Men, and Grizzly Bears: Fifty of the Gritt...

3 Huhti 201423min

Episode #17: The Code of Chivalry With Scott Farrell

Episode #17: The Code of Chivalry With Scott Farrell

Welcome back to another edition of the Art of Manliness Podcast! In this week's episode we talk to Scott Farrell, director of Chivalry Today. We discuss the history of chivalry and how modern men can ...

3 Huhti 201422min

Episode #16: Conquering Debt with J.D. Roth of Get Rich Slowly

Episode #16: Conquering Debt with J.D. Roth of Get Rich Slowly

Welcome back to another episode of The Art of Manliness Podcast! In this week's edition we talk to J.D. Roth, founder of the personal finance blog, Get Rich Slowly. Money Magazine named Get Rich Slowl...

3 Huhti 201421min

Episode #15: Man Stories with Kasper

Episode #15: Man Stories with Kasper

Welcome back to another edition of the Art of Manliness podcast. This week we return to our series called Man Stories where we interview a different gentleman and ask him what it means to be a man. Th...

3 Huhti 201420min

Suosittua kategoriassa Koulutus

rss-murhan-anatomia
psykopodiaa-podcast
voi-hyvin-meditaatiot-2
rss-narsisti
adhd-podi
psykologia
rss-rahamania
ihminen-tavattavissa-tommy-hellsten-instituutti
rss-duodecim-lehti
kesken
rss-valo-minussa-2
rss-tietoinen-yhteys-podcast-2
rss-vapaudu-voimaasi
jari-sarasvuo-podcast
rahapuhetta
leikitaanko-laakaria
rss-turun-yliopisto
rss-arkea-ja-aurinkoa-podcast-espanjasta
mielipaivakirja
rss-liian-kuuma-peruna