Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Real Life Heretic: Chase Randell

In the process of working out how to teach young people how to live in society, Chase Randell began to question society's assumptions. He decided to take them on starting with the assumption that only qualified professionals can build things of value. He committed himself to building an underground house on a patch of woods in upstate New York. He then looked for people to help him learn how to do it. The result was not only an underground house but a beautiful underground house with a wall of bluestone, intricate stone walls, high timber ceilings as well as doors and stain glass windows found in junkyards. If he had gone to the "qualified professionals" with his idea the costs would have been enormous. His heretical idea is to teach other people how to do this so they can be more self sufficient.


Find something that you want to do but won't because you are not "qualified"
Commit yourself to doing it anyway.
Once you've committed to it, find a way to make it happen. Ask for help. Change the parameters.
Think about all the times you assessed whether something was possible before you committed to doing it.

Resources:


Chase's ideas on education are influenced by reading John Dewey
Chase's rejection of consumerism is similar to these eloquent essayists
Chase assertion that people can make there own stuff is mirrored in the Maker movement.
Advantages of underground houses.

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