One of the hallmarks of our time is suffering from trade offs we didn’t know we made. For example, what are the trade offs of having one device for everything? convenience? is that it?
Imagine with me a craftsman. From childhood he took things apart to see how they work. One by one acquiring tools until the tools alone require a “shop”. Then there’s the competence. What started as tinkering, a continual fascination; has grown into a seemingly endless wealth of tacit knowledge. He can fix “anything”.
Suppose one day on a tool run he stumbled upon a oracle. Whatever this thing was, it wasn’t like the other tools. It glowed with light and for some reason, you couldn’t look away. All you had to do was point it at a problem, and in an instant, it’d identify; and then morph into; whatever was needed.
At first, the craftsman couldn’t help but think this a kind of magic. Over time though, he began to see his days of discerning unique problems, rigging together, or making a run for; just the right tool, warp into days spent as “Oracle holder”. In public he kept face, but in private, he didn’t feel like a craftsman anymore. Whatever that even meant now. His shop full of tools, and the ten thousand tiny won wars they represent, now reminded him with a pang; of the days when the little things mattered.
Wow…..incredibly powerful insight.