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We can overly fetishize specialization in the past, too, though. Those 6,000 workers were aiming for speed. Amateurs tend to aim for perfect quality. Sometimes

We can overly fetishize specialization in the past, too, though. Those 6,000 workers were aiming for speed. Amateurs tend to aim for perfect quality. Sometimes when you look at old things, it can be shocking how “sloppy” the workmanship is, but you have to realize that they were not trying to get perfect paint jobs or smooth castings. They were trying to make money.

_yb2s 2y ago
You can still see this nowadays with boats- the craftsmanship of the best homemade boats is on a much higher level than any commercial product. The pros could not make a profit if every detail had to be perfect like a hobbyist taking a decade to complete the project. However an even higher level of quality is the pros that are called in to do one off custom projects for wealthy customers that pay by the hour and don’t care what it costs. Ultimately, the perfection of the work is basically a tradeoff between time and quality- and the pros produce a lot more quality per unit time. But it is amazing how a really careful amateur can still do impressive looking work if they just go really really slow.