Shop Class as Soulcraft

Crawford uses the term “stochastic arts” to describe those who repair or mend, rather than create something new. He sees mechanics as stochastic artists as they work to remedy a problem much as a plumber or an electrician might also need to do. Doctors and surgeons, Crawford believes, are also stochastic artists. Their work is to continuously try and defend the body against damage and the ravages of time. Crawford reasons that these arts, of repair and remedy, require as much time and attention as those that create something out of nothing.

Crawford is critical of modern education, which he believes is flawed in several respects. He believes that modern education spends too much time dividing students up based on demographics and competency levels, all geared towards test scores. What educators miss is the differences in dispositions between students, so commanding and contemplative students are all pointed towards the same goals. He also believes that modern education is too theoretical and abstract, that students spend too much time engaged in “knowing that”—consuming information that they can repeat on a test—instead of “knowing how”—acquiring skills that they could use to solve their own problems in real life. Crawford is additionally concerned that modern education points all students in the direction of what he calls “clerkdom,” meaning an occupation in which the individual works under the pretense of doing “knowledge work” but really is just performing a white collar intellectual version of a Taylorized assembly line, following instructions on one task and not truly being an individual or using real creativity.