Why To Make Things

Extending the metaphor of carpentry, it’s first necessary to be able to saw wood neatly and to drive nails. Later you can bevel the edges or add elegant finials, if that’s your taste. But you can never forget that you are practicing a craft that’s based on certain principles.

The desire to create for its own sake is what it means to be human.

Blending these two notions, carpentry entails making things that explain how things make their world.

people sometimes produce good things just because the things are good, but people rarely produce bad things just because they are bad. People often do things because they believe that these things are good for themselves, or good for others, or good for the world.

We live in an era where a motivated 12-year-old can learn the basics of timber framing, semiconductor design, or how to bake bread that would rival world-class bakeries. They can master nearly any mechanical system or any number of programming or artistic vocations, even if no mentor lives nearby. The limit is no longer some teacher or institution