Contrariwise, it seems odd that stone tool making is not a popular hobby, given what a crucial activity it was for 99% of our history.
Which suggests maybe we rapidly unevolved interest in it soon after the Stone Age.
We had many other handicrafts which continued to be useful and so persisted (even to this day—some only losing their usefulness very recently with industrialisation, continuing for now as hobbies not yet affected by evolution (eg knitting).) But stone tools are not among them.
Knitting is an interesting example, as it’s a relatively recent invention (less than 1000 years old). Previously to make fabric you needed some kind of weaving method, which requires some kind of structure to hold the fabric. With knitting, you can do it anywhere, and just need a stick or two. It’s an interesting technology in how important it was, in a very subdued way. Knitting uses more materiel, but you get a flexible and warm garment which you can produce while on the go (apparently Chinese caravan men would pluck out camel hair to continue knitting).
It’s also interesting in how quickly it was abandoned as soon as cheap fabric was available from other sources—knitting is what grandmothers do (this used to make a lot of sense) and so was low status. It’s only recently become a normal hobby.
Contrariwise, it seems odd that stone tool making is not a popular hobby, given what a crucial activity it was for 99% of our history.
Which suggests maybe we rapidly unevolved interest in it soon after the Stone Age.
We had many other handicrafts which continued to be useful and so persisted (even to this day—some only losing their usefulness very recently with industrialisation, continuing for now as hobbies not yet affected by evolution (eg knitting).) But stone tools are not among them.
Knitting is an interesting example, as it’s a relatively recent invention (less than 1000 years old). Previously to make fabric you needed some kind of weaving method, which requires some kind of structure to hold the fabric. With knitting, you can do it anywhere, and just need a stick or two. It’s an interesting technology in how important it was, in a very subdued way. Knitting uses more materiel, but you get a flexible and warm garment which you can produce while on the go (apparently Chinese caravan men would pluck out camel hair to continue knitting).
It’s also interesting in how quickly it was abandoned as soon as cheap fabric was available from other sources—knitting is what grandmothers do (this used to make a lot of sense) and so was low status. It’s only recently become a normal hobby.