Assignment 6

Quote: “Two things have led to a diminished pride in workmanship. The earlier was the invention of currency; the later was mass production.”
I believe this quote captures the main idea of lecture 4: The conflict of technique and human nature. In his quote, he sums up the idea that production value and quality decreases because of the introduction of currency and mass production. This would be the conflict. The pride of crafting individual goods is diminished when you are given a purpose to make it. Russell argues that, say a person crafts a good for the sake of it and not for a wage, pride in the craft is induced. Likewise, if someone is forced to do something for a wage, pride is therefore devalued or diminished completely. The same goes for mass production. Because of the introduction of the assembly line during the Industrial period, quality and pride for each part is reduced. Money and mass production hinders quality for quantity.
This idea in lecture 4 conflicts with the lecture 3: The role of Individuality. In lecture 3, Russell tells us of the importance of individuality. Back in the days of Enlightenment or Renaissance, the individual would prosper within art or literature. All this from talented individuals and they would lead their era with their creations. But in modern day, instead of these individuals and their craft, we are led by currency and the mass production of goods. Overall, pride in the craft is now replaced by the value of currency.