Manual labor as manual leisure, or, the street finds its own uses for things

http://askpang.typepad.com/relevant_history/2008/10/reflections-on.html

Link: Relevant History: Reflections on tinkering.

(...) Tinkering isn't so much a specific set of technical skills: there tends to be a pretty instrumental view of knowledge. You pick up just enough knowledge about electronics, textiles, metals, programming, or paper-folding to figure out how to do what you want. It certainly respects skill, but skills are a means, not an end: mastery isn't the point, as it is for professionals. Competence and completion are....