Why Are Some People 'Handy' ? - Page 2

Re: Why Are Some People 'Handy' ?

I'm reasonably handy as long as the job doesn't require much strength or dexterity with both hands. The other day I changed a float in one of my toilets, and I laughed at the idea that someone would pay a plumber to do it. The whole thing cost me less than 8 bucks!

Re: Why Are Some People 'Handy' ?

while I'm sure fear is a factor for some, I don't think fear alone is sufficient to explain the deficiency of handiness in most people. I sometimes marvel at the inability of some people to look at a simple mechanical device, like a gate latch or a pulley block, and not be able to figure out how it works. These people are literally as helpless as a dog trying to figure out how to unwrap its lead from around a tree. And these people (for the most part) are not stupid. They could be world-class chefs, accomplished musicians, mathematicians, or anything else you could imagine. Brains are just wired in astoundingly different ways. I know how to open a gate, but the home inspector I caught climbing over my fence because he couldn't figure out the latch can... Okay, bad example. He really WAS just stupid.

Re: Why Are Some People 'Handy' ?

My dad was a Fine Arts educated commercial artist. His innate artistic talent was off the charts. Still didn't keep him from needing me to put together bicycles and toys at Christmas. He was pretty handy around the house and could do woodworking and furniture finishing better than I could ever hope, but give him an assembly manual and he was lost. Schematics were like Kryptonite to him.

Re: Why Are Some People 'Handy' ?

This is an interesting point that I failed to mention in my post. The majority of my toys as a child were building toys (Legos, Lincoln Logs, Erector, etc...) These types of toys teach a child how to build and how things should be assembled. Building primitive cars and robots from these toys teaches the basics of construction better than any teacher could do it. If I ever decide to have children, I will plan on supplying similar toys to them. Other types of toys are fine, but if all you have are dolls and cars to play with you're not learning a whole lot.

Re: Why Are Some People 'Handy' ?

Some time ago a toilet at my mom's home wasn't working right: the cistern took ages to refill. A plumber had a look at it and quoted S$80 to fix it, by replacing the entire float assembly (which he claimed was spoilt) and of course we baulked. I had a closer look at it, figured that there was something wrong with a rubber disc that had deformed. Cost of new rubber disc: S$1. So I got two of them, just in case

And yeah, I also had lots of Legos as a kid. I'm not sure the Legos 'teach' you to be handy, wouldn't it be more that kids that are innately handy prefer to play with Legos or other construction-type kits, rather than 'fixed' toys? But I suppose playing with Legos can certainly foster or improve your spatial instincts, as well as encourage you to fiddle.

And BTW, I did manage to fix that pedal-bin

Re: Why Are Some People 'Handy' ?

There might be something to that. When my daughter was a toddler, instead of her playing building with blocks, she would organize them by color. Same with M&Ms and other items. As a kid she did not enjoy building with Legos, but she enjoyed playing with the creations. She always wanted things that carry a lot of people and their accessories. Now they are both teens, my son wants a car to fix up and my daughter would love to have a mini van.

Re: Why Are Some People 'Handy' ?

I also had Legos when I was a kid, including some of the first mechanical ones. Even if I didn't have the "official" motor assembly kit, I did make one myself with DC motors purchased at Radio Shack. My favourite creation always was the mountaintop (i.e. dining room chair) cable car which worked perfectly -- at least until someone tripped over the string! *CRASH!*

Re: Why Are Some People 'Handy' ?

If you want the full answer to this question, you need to attend a degree-level psychology module in individual differences/psychometrics (it goes by different names at different universities) - and even then you'll probably not be near a definitive answer.

A very brief summary:

(1) to some extent you are born with this skill
(2) to some extent it's how you are brought up
(3) the interaction between (1) and (2) is complex; with a strong handiness trait, you are likely to be handy even if you had a relatively 'handiness free' upbringing; with a weak trait, the reverse applies.

All this sounds so much common sense (but this hasn't stopped psychologists arguing over it - and before anyone makes the obvious remark, the full story is a LOT more complex than - with respect - a layperson realises).

The related question is 'what does handiness comprise?'. This is in many respects a trickier question to answer:

(1) as some folks have already said, there must be a strong element of spatial skills
(2) there must also be a reasonable level of fine motor skills (i.e. ability to control small, precise movements)
(3) a high level of tactile and proprioreceptive (basically, knowledge of body position) skills will be handy
(4) a high level ability to mentally break down a complex process into its constituent parts must also play a part (interestingly, this is something a lot of Asperger patients excel at)
(5) an ability to translate the abstract into the concrete and vice versa will also be an asset
(6) and of course, a sound practical knowledge of tools, mechanics, etc, will be essential.

My guess is that there are umpteen possible mixes of sub-skills that will make someone have a high degree of handiness.

Re: Why Are Some People 'Handy' ?

I consider myself handy and also another one of those few oddities. I come from a family of engineers. I remember this story my mom told me. She said there was a time my dad and her would not take me to visit friends' houses as they usually find me in a room somwhere dismantling something. Of course, I wouldn't be able to put it together as I was only 5 years old then!
I can deal with most stuff around the house but if I feel something is beyond me, then I usually go online and try and look it up. If all else fails, I call an expret on it.
I also had a spring break off my garage door. I just studied how the other door worked and then I put the old spring back on and just adjusted the tension on it to match the other side. Still works after a few years now.
Oh, I never went on to become an engineer. I became a doctor, "dismantling" eyes and this time, I can put it back together....