I don't think he means that learning plumbing is a bad idea. I think his point is just that a big hype cluster around learning plumbing would seem silly. There

I don't think he means that learning plumbing is a bad idea. I think his point is just that a big hype cluster around learning plumbing would seem silly. There are a lot of useful skills in the world. Programming is one. Plumbing is another. Let's not get crazy and over-emphasize programming.