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Comment by mapleoin | Hacker News Reader

This is the most inspirational/life-changing video I've seen all year. I really think that there is a huge amount of stuff that we could start building or making locally, individually with skill, craft and dedication.

I would love to be able to work with my hands in a workshop, learning to make unique and masterful things from a master craftsmanship instead of sitting for 8 hours a day in the office dealing with things so abstract that they disappear when you switch off the electricity.

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I really think that there is a huge amount of stuff that we could start building or making locally, individually with skill, craft and dedication.

Yes that used to be the dominant form of production & employment up until ~ 200 years ago. You could bring it back. You might not get enough stuff though.

So do it.

I imagine that he can't afford to lose income for the time it would take to train.

And worse,there is a good chance his income would be much lower than currently even after he finished his training.

With that said, I used to go to some of the SCA meetings while I was in college. I met more than one excellent craftsmen that did their crafting on the weekend while maintaining a "normal" job during the week. Some made a decent second income off it.

You can do both.

Here's a shameless plug for a friend of mine. Of course he is more interested in art than functionality, but I am commissioning at least one piece from him:

http://www.jloose.com/

Also, I live in Eastern Europe. I don't know anyone who currently does anything like this and would accept trainees.

I do have a long-term plan of starting a small workshop of some kind though.

You investigate if there are any hackerspaces near you. They are a modern incarnation of the teaching each other & learning things. Probably a bit more electronic & technical aimed, and less traditional crafts, but they would be interested in traditional crafts. My local space has a woodwork room.

I would love to be able to become a master craftsman and then program a computer to augment and replicate my craftsmanship.

So merely battering a piece of metal (that other cleverer people have spent 200 years designing the alloys of) into shape is craftsmanship.

While creating a piece of software - a functional machine out of pure thought - is somehow just grunt work?

I didn't say that creating software is grunt work, I just said that my back hurts from sitting on a chair. I'd rather be a complete human being who uses his brain, body and soul, not just a brain plugged into the internet.

That's one of the reasons that I have two very physical and mentally engaging hobbies - Brazilian jiu-jitsu and lifting.

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