Tools

Tools shape what we can do, and doing shapes who we become. A sharp chisel enables cuts a dull chisel cannot. Regular sharpening builds attentiveness to edge condition. The tool and the practice co-evolve.

Ivan Illich distinguished “convivial” tools that extend human capability from “industrial” tools that replace human judgment. The bicycle is convivial — it amplifies the rider’s effort. The highway system is industrial — it demands conformity and excludes alternatives.

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The jig is a meta-tool: a device that holds work and guides tools, removing skill from individual operations. A crosscut sled makes perfect 90-degree cuts regardless of operator ability. The skill transfers from hand to fixture.

This has profound implications. Complex operations become repeatable. Quality stops depending on craftsman scarcity. The jig democratizes precision.

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Maintenance is how we honor useful things. Stewart Brand’s “low road” buildings — cheap, adaptable, continuously modified — often outlast grand monuments because they invite upkeep. The maintained tool accumulates refinement. The abandoned tool fails.

Creole technologies emerge from local adaptation: modified tools, hybrid techniques, solutions assembled from available parts. They carry the intelligence of specific contexts that universal designs lack.

Related: [[the-jig]], [[maintenance]], [[conviviality]], [[craft]], [[sharpening]]