ny Random Tuesday
the margin · on making

The drill needs a carpenter

A revolutionary tool only thrills the person who's already struggled in the craft.

Imagine the electric drill has just been invented. The carpenters who spent years twisting screws by hand are ecstatic—they know exactly what it's for the second it's in their palm.

Hand that same drill to someone who's never built anything and they shrug. What do they care? A revolutionary tool only thrills the person who already struggled without it. The struggle is what teaches you to recognize what you've been handed—so don't envy the tool, earn the calluses that let you use it.

1 stroke · first noted june 2026 · lives in on making
see — limited by our beliefs · sharpen the axe upstream · feed the flywheel
a thought from the margin · 1 return · back to the room