@jwcph I think it is the point honestly. Those carpenters have signed over their ability to do work to mechanisation and power tools, in the same way a programmer might to an LLM. I actually think they've lost something in that and it's been the subject of a good bit of historical handwringing. But within the industry it's now a completely uncontroversial bargain they've made and was probably inevitable as long as we're operating under capitalism.

@jwcph yeah they could learn but if a chippy I'm working with has to take the humps out of a stud frame and their electric planer breaks they are going to go and buy a new one, there won't even be a hand plane on site, let alone the skill to use it. You are right that most of those people could learn hand tool work, but most never have, never will and don't want to.

@jwcph I'm also a woodworker and while I can now do a reasonable amount by hand it's not how I was taught and I work with many, particularly carpenters, who can't do any work without power tools. The vast majority can't sharpen a chisel and have never used a hand plane. I've never seen a tenon saw on site and a panel saw is only for crude cuts. Manual skills are there and buildings get built, often well even, but those skills are expressed through machines almost exclusively.