

The Danger of Tools - tenpoundhammer
http://www.impressmyself.com/post/32400320170/the-danger-of-tools

======
stephengillie
If you put knowledge or ability into a tool, you can just hand that
knowledge/ability around. The knowledge of "the length of an inch" was
originally only known by one person who told others. This didn't scale well,
so the ruler was invented. Anyone with a ruler knows exactly the length of an
inch.

Few people can pull nails from wood with their bare hands. Claw hammers make
this very easy. The ability was built into the tool, so giving the tool to an
able-bodied human allows that human to pull nails from wood.

It's like the quote: "If magic were real, it wouldn't be magic. It would be
studied like science."

Glasses give perfect eyesight to almost any human. If glasses didn't exist,
about half of humanity would be less able to react and function, simply
because they can't get the same quality of information about their
environment.

Does this mean we should stop using tools? Should we go back to a world where
people can only do something if the action is made possible by the set of DNA
mutations which makes each of us unique? Should we throw away autotune and
automobiles and automatic defragmentation because each makes all humans more
equal in ability?

~~~
tenpoundhammer
We should definitely throw away auto-tune that is a scourge on humanity. My
point wasn't that all tools are bad, but we need to be wary of the trade offs
that happen when we use them and realize more or better tools aren't always
the solution.

In the last paragraph, "So what I’m saying is that tools are great, but
dangerous. Be wary of them. They are often a trade off and not always what
they seem. When choosing a tool always falter on the side of more control.
Never make the process of creating about finding the ‘right’ tool make it
about creating the ‘right’ thing."

~~~
stephengillie
You think it's a scourge on humanity that people who can't sing are now always
in-tune? As an amateur musician, it means I don't hear out-of-tune musak
anymore. For performers, it's another tool with which their audience can be
entertained.

For you, it's obviously a tool about which you can complain. See, even you
find it useful!

~~~
tenpoundhammer
I can understand why you like it, but I find the sound it produces to be
annoying. I am also an amateur musician. I find it mostly creates a
homogenized vocal sound and promotes laziness. That being said, I never
considered it's role in amateur musicianship. I was mostly thinking at the
level of popular music.

------
kylemaxwell
Center-justified text is pretty difficult to read.

~~~
tenpoundhammer
thanks for the note, it's now left justified.

