Does building or restoring an aircraft make you smarter?
Does building or restoring an airplane make you smarter? For the sake of the argument lets consider “smarter” as a tangible enhancement in problem-solving skills.
After building my RV-8 I pondered this very subjective question. Part of me felt like the almost 5 years of daily construction have translated into better logic and reasoning skills, but I don’t have any empirical evidence to prove it. Maybe I’m just more patient or using my experience in lieu of actual intellect.
My gut says “yes” to the question, but I thought I would use the power of the Internet to ask others like me to get a read on it.
In the small sample I obtained 75% felt like they have better problem-solving capabilities as a result of their construction or restoration experience.
No overtly scientific, but interesting none the less. Many respondents said that they felt more skilled or wiser as a result. Many wouldn’t admit to any increased smarts, citing hard-wired genetics and other cognitive barriers not to be broken by experiential activities.
Unless we obtain a government grant and start employing scientific method with double-blind tests and everything, we can’t be sure.
So I leave you with my unfettered opinion –
Building or restoring WILL make you smarter.
Based in this, what are you waiting for? After all it is for education and recreation, per the FARs; now you can add increased cognition to that list!
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building any complex anything would make you smarter lol i have been building cars form age 5-6
Thanks Erik!