[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-599634-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":80,"doc-detail-599634-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":73,"head_meta":75,"extra_data":77,"updated_unix":79},105,"en","carpentry-is-intellectual-work","Carpentry Is Intellectual Work","","This article argues that carpentry is an intellectual activity as well as a physical one, supporting the view through defined terminology, a structured problem outline, and concrete examples. It explains how carpentry relies on reasoning, measurement, calculation, and adaptive problem-solving, while also requiring study, reflection, and speculation. The discussion frames intelligence as the ability to respond creatively to novel situations and draws implications for education and teaching and learning.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/carpentry-is-intellectual-work/599634/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/carpentry-is-intellectual-work/599634.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"jayni","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-29","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":22},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"What is the main claim about carpentry in the article?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"Carpentry is presented as intellectual work, combining physical effort with mental activity, reasoning, and adaptive problem-solving.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"How does the author address the skeptical belief that carpentry is only physical?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"The author points out that people notice physical labor but overlook mental and intellectual work, and he uses carpentry tasks as evidence for intelligence and cognition.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"What does “intellectual” mean according to the article’s argument?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"It refers to the ability to respond adaptively to novel situations, involving knowledge, insight, creative use of reasoning, and reflection rather than abstract theory alone.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":74,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":76,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":78,"site_id":7},599634,1792089154,{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":82},"success",[83,87,91,95,100,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":84,"show_sort_weight":85,"slug":86},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":88,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":131},{"doc_id":78,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":22,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":111,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":79,"read_time":117},3985747859343,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","| | Carpentry Is Intellectual Work |\n| --- | --- |\n\nRobert R. Sherman, University of Florida—Emeritus  \nAbstract  \nThis article argues that carpentry is as much an intellectual as a physical activity. Terms are defined, the problem is outlined, examples are given, and some general conclusions are drawn for education. Some sketches are provided for graphic illustration of the examples. The interpretation in effect is pragmatic and cites Dewey on occasion to illuminate its views.  \nKeywords: Emotions, affect, cognition, Dewey  \nI worked as a carpenter before going to college, and during summers and spare time while teaching for 40 years in universities, and now that I am retired, I work as a carpenter again. I love todo carpentry. Today it would be called my “passion.” Joseph Campbell might say it is my“bliss.” To be sure, carpentry can be hard work, especially in the Florida heat and humidity. I like equally well the teaching I have done, baseball, and reading books. But carpentry is a special experience because it embodies so many good qualities.  \nWhen I was teaching, and always in need of examples, I used to tell my students that“carpentry is intellectual work.” I would give a brief explanation, but I never took time to workout the idea in detail. Then I told a colleague about it. He also does carpentry and was interested in the idea. He asked if I had written anything about it; if so, he wanted his students to read it, but regretfully I had to say “no.”  \nNow I want to remedy that. I want to tell why I think the idea is important, lay out some concepts (particularly “intellectual”), explain the activity of carpentry and provide examples for my idea, and draw some implications for education—for teaching and learning. I won’t detail“my life in carpentry,” which would be a long biography, or give “carpentry tips,” though some examples from my own experience will be helpful.  \nTerminology  \nWhen I would tell students that “carpentry is intellectual work,” I could see skepticism in their faces. Like so much other “work,” they appeared to think, carpentry is physical, not mental, activity. There is a teaching moment. The belief shows a common and long-standing tendency in our thinking to separate mind and body. Philosophers have debated this matter for centuries. Everyone notices the physical but seldom the mental or intellectual effort associated with carpentry. The students would refer to roofing, and cement-form building, and framing and truss  \nmaking, and laborers carrying lumber and supplies up and down ladders to document their skepticism.  \nOf course there is physical activity associated with carpentry. That is another reason why I like it. In this I agree with the insight, if not the extent to which they took it, of the Chinese Marxists who believed that intellectuals should be required to do some physical work. It might give them practical insight. In addition, it is good exercise. If you work as a carpenter, you won’t have to spend so much time jogging or in the gym.  \nWhat does a carpenter do? For my purposes I do not need to be very technical or detailed; a general idea should be enough for my discussion. A carpenter “builds or repairs wooden structures.” Distinctions can be made between “rough”(framing) and “finish” carpentry (often called “joinery”) and between those who build new structures from plans and repair carpenters.  \nReading and following blueprints or plans requires intelligence, of course. Measurement, calculation, and figuring angles and curves—all carpentry activities—require intelligence—and education. It would be easy to make the case that “carpentry is intellectual work” by following this line. But I prefer to do repair carpentry, and odd job and handyman work, which usually follows no blueprint. One time a student working with me asked how we were going to deal with the problem we had been hired to fix.“I don’t know,” I replied,“we’ll figure it out as we go along.” It wasn’t that we lacked carpent","cbCaijDvhBUKZ9Hf","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaijDvhBUKZ9Hf","pdf",463768,"English","# Abstract\n## Terminology\n## What does a carpenter do?\n## What does it mean to be “intellectual?”","[{\"question\":\"What is the main claim about carpentry in the article?\",\"answer\":\"Carpentry is presented as intellectual work, combining physical effort with mental activity, reasoning, and adaptive problem-solving.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the author address the skeptical belief that carpentry is only physical?\",\"answer\":\"The author points out that people notice physical labor but overlook mental and intellectual work, and he uses carpentry tasks as evidence for intelligence and cognition.\"},{\"question\":\"What does “intellectual” mean according to the article’s argument?\",\"answer\":\"It refers to the ability to respond adaptively to novel situations, involving knowledge, insight, creative use of reasoning, and reflection rather than abstract theory alone.\"}]","Carpentry Is Intellectual Work | PDF"]