"No one’s heard of a starving craftsman, just starving artists, and for a reason. Craftsmen create something people need. You’ve mastered a few important skills and moved up in the company. The important aspect here is that as you reach out to a greater community, you realize that there are plenty of people who are more skilled than you and who are still learning. Learn from them.
Gaining textbook skills or collecting certifications isn’t the point anymore; it’s applying all this knowledge in practical ways. Along the journey, you need to watch out for your best career interests and make sure that what you’re doing is what you want to do. For example, many get lost in promotions that lure them away from what they like doing, whether that’s programming or writing.
Finally, don’t underestimate perpetual learning. This is the key to the long road. Take time to practice, even if your job doesn’t seem to allow it. Learn new skills or apply existing skills in new ways. Along with practice comes failure, but don’t let that discourage you."
#Craftsmanship #Craftsman #TechnicalWriting #SoftwareDevelopment #Programming #TechnicalCommunication
Ignoring artists ends up with tech bros creating the torment nexus… need a little of both.
Ah, but would the tech bros have come up with the torment nexus if not for the classic sci-fi novel Don’t Create The Torment Nexus?
If you’ve never heard of a starving craftsman, you haven’t met many craftsmen. Also, most artists have day jobs.
First off its a huge stretch to call programmers ‘craftsman’ in any traditional sense.
No, sitting at home on your ass, in underwear, while tippy tapping on a keyboard writing up python functions to parse a database is simply not equivalent to assembling an actual functional object or processing system with metal, wood, wire, bolts and hand tool.
You can be smug about getting paid bank for tapping the keyboard at home, but dont try to convince yourself the white collar work is the same as hard body destroying trades blue collar through word appropriation. I bet youve never even pulled a sliver out your hand with tweezers, never got a friction blister from torque, not even one little cosmetic scar from a minor nick. Your hands are petite and unsullied as a baby, look at you.
Even if it was appropriate, youve never heard of a starving ‘craftsman’(programmer)? How about being jobless after constant downsizing and layoffs?
The rest of the talking points boil down to yum-yum feel good ‘work hard and perpetually learn on the job (proper training? Aint nobody got time for that) Apply yourself and you’ll be successful! Dont be lured by promotions or new job opportunities remember you work to enjoy your work and grow your skills not to make money!’
Thats a okay attitude for apprentices but once you actually have some work experience this reads as nothing short of corporate propaganda masquerading as generic apprenticeship motivational advice.
LOOK AT YOU, BABYHANDS
People need art, do not fall for the trap that economically unprofitable things are unneeded things.
@[email protected] Although I don’t believe people need “new” art, I agree that art can fulfill a “spiritual” hole in people’s lives. But I don’t think that’s exactly the same…
Culture without art is barely culture at all. im not sure how anyone actually seriously gets the idea they rarely interact with art or that it’s unimportant.
@[email protected] The number of people who gain a living as plumbers, electricians, carpenters, and locksmiths is way higher than the number of people who people who gain a living as artists. Unfortunately, that is the truth.
Got some numbers to back that up at all, or just gut feelings?
It would also depend on your definition of “artist”. There is a lot of art going on in things like comics, movies, TV shows, video games, toys, board games, and so on. Writing can also be considered an art form, and not just the fancy stuff like poetry. What about musicians, are they artists? Acting is also an art form, and there are tons of those kicking about.
I personally think it’s a pointless comparison over number of trades people vs number of career artists. We need both. Without trades we don’t have a place to live, and without art the place we live in sucks. I’m not as concerned as to which group is bigger. Like, there will be a natural balance somewhere depending on the wants/needs of the society at the time. Kinda like the whole deer vs wolves thing (I am not trying to imply that trades or artists are preying upon one another).
@[email protected] I think what the author wants to state - and I agree with - is that it’s way more difficult to earn a living as an artist than as an craftsman. Unfortunately, that is a fact. It’s extremely difficult to survive as an artist. And only the real talented ones can gather a high enough number of fans to sustain their work.
My problem is the “way higher” bit without anything other than “trust me bro” to back it up. I do not disagree that being an artist can be financially difficult, but such an absurd statement should come with some data to back it up I think. You’re also claiming it’s a fact. Got anything to back that up?
I find the argument absurd for two reasons:
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There are millions of employed artists in the US. This number doesn’t mean much without knowing the total number of artists trying to get work. If we look at unemployment rates, artists were sitting around 3.9% in 2022 and construction was between 3.4% and 7.1% in 2022. Pretty close if you ask me.
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Without disclaimers, it almost implies getting and keeping a trades job is easy. The various trades industries can be volatile as heck, and tools are expensive. Tradies have their own difficulties they have to overcome.
Edit for transparency:
Using the numbers from the construction link, we can math out that there were about 9.3 million employed construction workers in 2022 compared to the 2.67 million artists.
If you’re just looking for raw numbers then this could constitute as “way more”. I don’t think it’s a fair comparison however. See my above comment re: wolves and deer. If you compare the total number of nuclear physicists to the total number of garbage men, then it looks like trying to be a nuclear physicist is a bad move (absolutely nothing wrong with garbage collection as a career).
The ebb and flow of things kinda regulates how many people are “allowed” (for lack of a better word) to be employed in an industry. I think a much better and more fair comparison is the unemployment rate.
@[email protected] In my country, Portugal, and in most countries of the world, artists can barely survive. Just look at job boards such as LinkedIn and compare the average remuneration offered to an artist - designer, musician, painter, video maker - to the average remuneration of a plumber. And also don’t forget to compare the gross number of job ads.
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People need art, do not fall for the trap that economically unprofitable things are unneeded things.
Meanwhile I went to art school and make more than the engineers around me who seem to keep writing code to only fix the bugs of the prior code they wrote…it’s a fun treadmill. Like a car engine that’s perpetually broke and will always need a mechanic… but at the end of the day I get to go home.
