Anyone like to deconstruct things?

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I know this term deals mainly with Ideas and whatnot, but I will allow this to apply also to material things

So, who likes to take things apart?

Do you do this to; understand the thing better, to fix the thing, or because some unknown force makes you do this and then laughs as you struggle to put it all back together quite unsuccessfully?

Here's three examples of things I might deconstruct...

1. A written passage... sometimes I am just not seeing the message that other folks are getting, or I can see other ways of interpreting the passage. Sometimes in my writings, I go back and read it over-and-over-and-over because I know there is a different/better way of writing it, or I consider the endless ways in which my 'audience' may perceive my intent in writing it and I try to make it cover all these as best I can.

2. A math equation... my biggest stumbling block in something like Algebra is the equations. I don't have trouble using them... it just DRIVES ME CRAZY until I understand why they work! My former wife gave up trying to help me with my college algebra classes because I'd hit this wall and not be able to move on until I understood how the equation worked. I break them down as best I can by myself... examining each step, each example, trying variations, in order to 'know' how to solve the problem with the equation in question. I am no math genius, but I do enjoy math, and this is a major hurdle for me to overcome.
It is literally hard for me to just, "memorize the equation, remember what type of problem to use it for, AND JUST DO IT"

3. Mechanical things (or anything enclosed in a shell or box)... from my earliest days as a child ("What do you mean I can't pull out the film to see the pictures we just took?"), I have this insatiable need to 'see what's on the inside'
I am constantly taking things apart no matter what it is. I have had those times when I ruined something because of having to force it open, or because I couldn't remember how all the parts went back together(I've gotten better at that over the years), or because when I opened the thing... SPROING!... small pieces went flying everywhere and I lost one or two!

This has led to a life-long ability to keep mechanical items from leaving with the trash. I really like it when someone throws something away, but I get it back and I can just open it up and get it running again.
What I HATE, is that so many people tell me, "Oh, just throw it away and we'll get another. It's not worth fixing. It's cheaper to buy another than to get that one fixed."

I also find it quite intriguing to see how the internals were designed and how/why it works so well... or so poorly

The one thing I am quite adamant about NOT deconstructing ... MY LIFE!
Scares the s**t out of me, quite frankly.

I suppose it could help me in many ways to do this, but I'll wait...

Yes I was told when I was a young child I used to like to take things apart. That is why growing up I wasn't allowed to play with many things. Apparently I took apart an air-conditioning unit when I was around 4-5.

Yes, but did you... or anyone else... get it back together?

Do you still do this sort of thing?

I have acquired a neat toolbox with items I can use to dismantle all sorts of things.
Some of these I carry around from time-to-time so when I'm alone somewhere and find something that piques my curiosity, I can check it out!

I've already picked all the locks in the bathrooms at work (I never take the money out of the kotex/tampon machines... I am not a thief, just curious ), filing cabinets, etc.

I've explored all manner of devices and have fixed some items at work because I took them apart and found the problem.
Sometimes it's just a matter of a loose screw (in the item... not in my head ).

I could sometimes, just that it was usually taken off me.

Once I was out in the garden and the spindle broke on the back door and I was locked out. I heard the door bell ring and I looked around and found a bit of wire and shaped it and broke in then rushed to answer the door to my sister.

I don't really understand the reason for this one this one but going from what my parents told me. There was a dead lock on the outside of the loo (not sure why). I devised a complex system using string to lock it from the inside and then pull the key out have it drop down and pulled under the door. So I locked myself in and couldn't come out. They had to kick the door in. But I could have just bolted the door.

Plain old vanilla VS ROCKY ROAD! That's why....

I think it's just more fun, more stimulating, more of a challenge to complicate things and have it work out.

I like that story, thanks!

Now I like to deconstruct code/systems find vunrabilities.

One thing I figure out is how to insert scripting in an ebay listing and bypass the sever and client side anti-scripting in order to insert any malicious code such as redirection to a page of your choice on clicking 'buy now' or inserting iframes, etc.

Also idea of 'jackpotting' or reversing the function in a black box situation is intriguing.

There is a certain appeal to that... isn't there!

The problem with reaching adult age, is that a person is then held to laws that can really screw up a person's future even if their activities of curiosity are not malicious or harmful... "Sure I gained entry, but I didn't break anything, or steal anything!"

How come I know about this? I always have a feeling that I could express myself much better, use more sophisticated word or whatever what would make my text simply better. Now I am able to understand how much truth is in this popular proverb saying that better is an enemy of good.

Well I told ebay and they didn't care. A related vulnerability had been known about for 6 months they didn't do anything. The only thing they did was offer me a gift. I declined.

I did the original testing on their sandbox site. Then the guy said he would refund me if I showed him on the production site.

They may not have removed the vulnerability now not sure. The point is it is so stupid just to provide pointless functionality to a developer that is barely used and could be replaced with an opt in rather than opt out system. I can't believe that they would even begin to try and control most of the anti scripting from the client side. Then they try to tell you what browser to get

Yes, I've always liked to deconstruct both ideas and objects.

Me 2. Then I went on to become TOO controlled about taking things apart, as if a wall stood between me and my best abilities. I've had a theory for a long time about such tendencies actually being quite an advantage. The child and all concerned are better off if those abilities are developed than if they are opposed.

I'm more of a material deconstructor. Sometimes I deconstruct things to know what makes them tick, sometimes I do it to fix it, sometimes I do it to try to enhance it.

I can still remember pulling apart old transistor radios in my childhood. One time I pulled apart an old tube TV set. Another time, I pulled apart a motorcycle engine.

When I was in elementary (grade school, in other parts of the world) I borrowed a digital wrist watch from friend. Opened it up, "fixed" it and never was able to get it back working. Had to pay my friend to get a new watch.

My profession allows me to, somewhat, deconstruct things while earning a living I used to write software and QA software. Now I just write em.

About the motorcycle engine, its still back in the Philippines, waiting for me to finish putting it back together. Needed a new clutch lining, but its already been sitting there for 2 years.

Been there, done that.

The screwdriver discount. I have bought a few things that were working, I wait for them to stop.

Not working is real cheap, I love that, it is not worth fixing, get a new one, I shop Goodwill.

Parts used to be a problem but I can find anything on ebay. My HP 5000 sold for $5000, I paid $7, bought $150 in parts, and it is new, made to run 2000 pages a day, total page count 65,000. I am set.

I buy the biggest and best a few years old, and so far, it all recovers for the price of the cheap new stuff.

I have worked as a mechanic, which is why I hate people. Now I buy broken, sell working. Same job, pays twenty times as much.

Some stuff I just buy parts, and make wholes. I will hunt and hunt to find a part, and then sell them, ten times what I paid, hard to find.

My tinkering now pays for all.