Tool Builders

I am, for a number of reason, very often reminded of the proverb:

If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you give a man a fishing rod, you feed him for a lifetime.

…or one of the many incarnations of it. Largely, I think, down to the fact that I am forever learning and discovering new tools: programming, drawing, physical computing. I am gradually working my way through the many videos of speakers of the recent Eyeo festival (of which there are many) and was taken by what Amit Pitaru had to say with regards to the proverb [near the end]:

 

 

Pitaru talks of the privileged position we are in. By we I am talking about the generation of multidisciplinary emergent workers who have skills and tools at our finger tips (I have prematurely added myself to this category). Particularly in reference to those which use programming as a means to design or produce art. If there is something we like the look of, we no longer have to wait for the passer-by to give us the fishing rod or show us how to use it; we take what we want and learn how to use it, free-of-charge*. Now it is up to us to decide what it is we want to do with these new tools.

Pitaru has dedicated a lot of his work to helping others. He has used his newfound skills to help produce new tools to help the disabled interact with the world, for example. I have been in an enveloping world of learning and practicing varying languages and forms of programming for about 2 years now and I am just getting to the stage where I feel I can make tools for others to use. My first venture being Ideas-Bank; led by my fascination and fondness of Open Source culture. It is not exactly popular, but I am finding myself using it really quite often. Now I know that I can create tools that I find useful, very soon I should be looking at what I can make that really will benefit others—particularly those who are not as privileged as I am.

Josh

*This is a point in itself which I am sure to return to; mostly regarding education.