Pun Salad

I was beguiled into putting this book on my get-at-library list by the author's appearance on Russ Roberts' EconTalk podcast. OK, that was back in January 2021. I was slow about it.

Because I am the near opposite the author, Matthew B. Crawford. I am a hopeless non-starter when it comes to things mechanical, especially motor vehicles. And I can't remember the last time I drove in order simply to get out of the house, to assuage my wanderlust. Crawford has me beat on both those scores.

But I was wrong in my reluctance and delay: Crawford is a fine writer, with an obvious enthusiasm for his topics, making them accessible and interesting to (I think) just about anyone. So I enjoyed this read quite a bit.

Note that I said "topics" just now. There's a lot of stuff going on here. The "philosophy" promised in the subtitle is here, of course. But there's also some straight reportage, tales of his personal experiences, and some pretty intense gearhead stuff with illustrations of timing gears, piston rods, crankshafts, … Something for everyone! Even the philosophical stuff covers a range of topics: ruminations on self-driving cars, safetyism, absurdly low speed limits, and how "surveillance capitalism" is encroaching on our privacy (specifically, tracking our travels).

The tone varies from chapter to chapter. On page 195, you'll read about a woman at a Virginia dirt bike race haranguing a hesitant young man (her son?), suggesting he "Quit being a fucking vagina!" Only a few paragraphs after that, Nietzsche and Plutarch are called in for their relevant takes.

Gee, I hope that's OK to say at Goodreads.

There is a streak of Hayekianism where the author ruminates on countries where traffic is less regulated. (Busy intersections without traffic lights or stop signs? Sure! Left on red? Why not! Speed limits? Pishtosh!) It turns out that people adopt their own rules in such situations, without (much) detriment to safety or efficiency.

But there's also a strong streak of anti-corporatism in Crawford. Especially the new-fangled tech-driven companies, the Ubers, the Teslas, the Googles. Especially Google. (The Volkswagens, Fords, Hondas, etc. are OK, though.) There's something creepy, he thinks, about the masses of data the tech companies collect, and then sell to (gasp!) advertisers. Who might actually bring your attention to a product or service you might find useful! Heinous!

Still, it's an interesting argument, made well.