Source: https://infosec.exchange/@0xabad1dea/117485038136053872
transcript
“It’s a poor worksman who blames his tools” has always been complete nonsense. No-one complains about imperfect tools faster and louder than a master. A master will yank a cheap or damaged tool out of your hand and yell at you for not blaming it yet
Cheap, lousy tools come from middle managers who don’t know how to do your job. Blame the hell out of poor tools and those who demand you use them
The master craftsman will use the shitty tools they have to make the good tools they need.
The master craftsman will know where they can wing it and by how much, and this includes shitty tools
That only works if you’re the kind of craftsman that makes tools. A carpenter probably isn’t making a good planer (at least not from raw materials)
It does depend on the field, but a lot of trades utilize tool making as an entry level educational opportunity to teach students basic skills. One of the first things I built in school for orthotics and prosthetic was a set of calipers used to measure the inside of a prosthetic socket. I still use the calipers and the skills used to create the calipers on a regular basis.
A carpenter who is incapable of making a planer is not a “master” carpenter. For the master, the decision to purchase a planer is a choice. The novice has no choice: he can only buy.
In order to be a master carpenter you need to be able to make metal tools? So a master carpenter must also be a master blacksmith?
That seems like a high, specific bar for mastery. I don’t think, to be considered a master filmmaker, someone has to be able to fashion their own camera (and film) from scratch. I think tool making is a whole separate set of skills from tool using, and someone could master one or the other without both.
I would say that you’re describing a “skilled” craftsman. The bar for “mastery” is extraordinarily high.