In years past the general productivity of mankind was, to say the absolute least, very different from the present. Doing research was a much more demanding process than it is presently. It usually involved physically going to a library, being forced to understand and use the infrastructure therein to find the information that you need. Learning to do anything independently was difficult and time consuming. Instruction was generally gleaned from any acquaintance or relative that could possibly already know how to carry out the task at hand, or it was found in books such as Hanes manuals for cars or the ever ubiquitous “… For Dummies” books. Experts in a field generally had become so with vigorous instruction that developed a strong working knowledge of everything in the field. Data had to be retained for the sake of time as any task requiring technical knowledge would take ages to complete if not readily at the disposal of the individual. These experts would be frequently consulted for their knowledge of their field and were highly regarded therein.
It is clearly no longer the case that the general acquisition of information is as difficult as it once was. That is a bygone era that exists currently only as slightly condescending anecdotes aimed at younger generations involving repeated use of the phrase “and we used these things called … to…” Today the internet allows for research to be done quickly and efficiently, even with the ability of using a library’s collection simply by accessing its database. The do-it-yourselfers of the world are more enabled than they ever have been with instructions on tasks from cooking to auto repair to building magnetic accelerators all in videos and written instruction a keystroke or two away. With this great abundance of information and the rampant ability of the individual to gain what was once very specialized knowledge in a matter of minutes, this leaves many that have been considered experts in a tricky position. If any individual is able to do just a small amount of research and proficiently carry out a task that would otherwise require a good deal of background knowledge in the relevant field, the meaning of that expertise is greatly diminished.
This may seem like the demise of notion of “the expert”, the demise of those that spearhead new ideas and progress a field more so than any others, but in reality the outcome is nowhere near that bleak. On a macro scale, any field that has more individuals participating in it will progress at a much greater rate than those with significant barrier to entry. This means that with the greater number of people actively doing work in a field and exchanging ideas will be generating more and more interest therein thus expanding and generally bettering that field. The experts of those fields also still have a position of prominence in being the instructors to all of those entering at an amateur level. The do-it-yourself community is one that represents this idea already. There are no, and haven’t ever really been, distinct experts in DIY culture, only those that have been getting things done independently for long enough and well enough to feel they should contribute to the information pool for anyone to see and this has only benefited DIY practice as a whole.
Skills Bonanaza! 