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Yes, but this temple is not destroyed annually, and
not by fire (except
in the one case
of the American
firebombing) as it was characterized
in the original posting
on the subject. (Context: the supposed
"lost arts" of Saturn V.)
Structures kept alive by institutionalized practices,
not by sheer
durability -- that's a
laudable aim, up to a point. But everything in
moderation. Overapplying this strategy, you end up back
at the
Shuttle -- they pretty much take each one apart and put it back
together again after every flight. And
they know a lot about how to
repair heatshield tiles now. Refurbishing the
heatshield still takes
about 30,000 man-hours per flight, though -- a kind
of latter-day
traditional Japanese
craft, when you think about it.
The Church/State complex in Japan was also a great
source of
government jobs, but it didn't get Japan
anywhere. Quite the
contrary. State-supported worship lends itself
to extravagance
and conservatism, not
better engineering. As Nevil Shute was
fond of saying, "an
engineer is someone who can do for shilling
what any fool can do for
a pound."
-michael turner
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- That Japanese Shrine LARRY KLAES
- Re: That Japanese Shrine Gary McMurtry
- Re: That Japanese Shrine Michael Turner
- Re: That Japanese Shrine David Kay
