If you look at the development of any technology there is a consistent evolution from high skilled use of simple tools to low skilled use of complex tools. Con

If you look at the development of any technology there is a consistent evolution from high skilled use of simple tools to low skilled use of complex tools. Consider the evolution of human weapons. It was very easy to make a crude throwing spear (break off a branch and sharpen the wooden tip against a rock) but a ton of strength and precision was necessary to take down a target with it. It took a while to figure out how to make a decent bow, but once invented it spread all over the world because momentum could be imparted to the arrow instantaneously when releasing the string. Strength was still required to hold the bow at full tension; this requirement was eliminated with the crossbow. As a tradeoff, the crossbow required more significant manufacturing expertise and economies of scale, particularly with regard to precise metal locking mechanisms. The evolution continues with guns replacing crossbows, tanks replacing horses, and ending with nuclear weapons. Each technological development requires a much greater level of manufacturing organization, and in turn bestows more power on an unskilled user. The resulting economies of scale are why only a small set of huge states are militarily relevant today, and why the idea of nomad bands posing a threat suddenly seems laughable (whereas it was a dominant worry for civilized society up until a few hundred years ago). It is natural to glorify the work of the artisan whose disorganized but brilliant insight has not yet been commoditized. But for better or worse, progress usually takes the form of painstakingly systematizing those insights, detail by detail, until they are reproducible and robust, so that a broader range of people can consistently churn out similarly good work. It is this systematization and rationalization of the manufacturing process that really brings quality of life improvements to large numbers of people. It is also what can seem to take the magic out of the original insight, eg as Edison’s discovery of electricity becomes as mundane as flipping on a light switch. Progress happens in the transition from magic to technology.