Comment by chongli | Hacker News Reader

Comment by chongli | Hacker News Reader

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These sets are not creative play toys, they're highly-detailed 3-dimensional jigsaw puzzles. That is their appeal, and you can make the same argument about a traditional wood/cardboard jigsaw puzzle:

"Kids should be learning how to paint with oil paints or watercolours, not snapping together these pre-painted jigsaw puzzles!"

I think the real difference here is that we've transitioned from more of a mixed/manual labour economy to a mental/emotional labour economy. People get off work and they just want to come home and do something relaxing and not mentally taxing. Putting together a Lego set is like that. It takes more thought than watching TV, but not much. Coming up with something interesting and creative from a bucket of random Legos is different, and most people lose interest.

I think your argument in quotes is a good one. :) Following a set of pre-defined instructions is not a creative act. It's not bad to build a puzzle, but I would argue that it's not nearly as meaningful of an experience as painting - or any other creative activity for that matter.

No, but building sets does have other benefits.

There's some zen to the act, like model or puzzle building. But you can also observe and learn techniques to add to your own builds.

Knowing all the ways Bionicles are put together can help you turn a Porsche into a full transforming Autobot Jazz.

I think learning to oil paint could be a very meaningful experience. Relaxing to watching Bob Ross videos and paint along with him.

I do also feel there is this sort of "cult" of self-improvement going around. Like if you're not spending every waking minute of your life learning some new skill or marketing yourself or trying to get a promotion, then you're wasting your time. It's very toxic.

Doing things that you find relaxing should be accepted, even if they don't teach you anything or improve you in any way.

It isn't even a puzzle if you've been given the instructions on how to build it.

I think you're making the mistake of assuming that your values are universal. I don't think there's anything intrinsically meaningful about painting, or doing any other creative activity. If someone enjoys those things, that's awesome - but not everyone does, and there's nothing wrong with that.

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