The French house of Hermès produces some of the finest, most elegant and best made luxury goods in the world. In the quote above, Jean-Louis Dumas is referring specifically to the tools associated with the legendary artistry and craftmanship of Hermès products and the knowledge of their skilled use as passed down from artisan to artisan since the mid-nineteenth century. But he is also playing the philosopher. For though his observation is true on its face it is truer still when one extrapolates to the use of tools in the broadest sense of the word, not least the tool of critical thinking.
If thinking is both a tool and, at least in Descartes estimation, what makes us human, can it be said then that one who is not knowledgeable in the use of tools has not yet learned what it is to be fully human? Does using tools make us smarter? I think the answer is, yes! This is why convenience living dumbs us down. We need a certain amount of difficulty of the sort that can be nutted out in order to keep our thinking sharp. Tone or atrophy, right? The DIY movement just might save humanity...futurecraftcollective.com
Smart in our time!
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