Maker Skill Trees

Concept & Intent

• Project offers visual “maker skill trees” across many domains (cooking, PCB design, coding, music, house building, etc.).
• Each hex tile is a discrete activity/achievement; users can fill them in to track experience and spot gaps.
• Many readers interpret them as motivational “bingo cards” or achievement charts rather than strict curricula.

Reception & Naming

• Idea and visual format get strong praise: seen as inspiring, especially for beginners who “don’t know what they don’t know.”
• Major critique: they are not real “trees” (no explicit prerequisites or dependency graph); more like vertical difficulty stacks.
• Several suggest alternative names like “skill trackers,” “skill stacks,” or “achievements” to reduce expectations set by “skill tree.”
• Some suspect AI generation due to odd ordering; README now states they were human-created, sometimes with experts, and that renaming is being considered.

Structure & Pedagogy

• Many complain the ordering of “basic” vs “advanced” is often wrong or arbitrary across domains.
• Critique that tasks are breadth-focused “bucket lists,” risking mile-wide, inch-deep learning.
• Others argue even flawed maps help beginners form mental models and identify next projects.
• Suggestions: use formal frameworks (e.g., ONET-style structures), JSON/markdown data with auto-layout, true branching paths, and better weighting (some tiles are vastly more work than others).

Domain-Specific Feedback

• House building: too focused on feasibility/planning; underplays deep sub-skills (concrete, tiling, wiring, code knowledge).
• Cooking: basic/advanced axis is off (e.g., popcorn and fresh garlic placed oddly); should be organized by foundational techniques leading to complex dishes. Extra skills suggested (mother sauces, roasting, fish, game).
• Sushi: debate over safety; consensus that home sushi is fine if using appropriate fish, but wild raw catch is risky.
• PCB design and game dev: order of tools and topics criticized as unrealistic or tool-collecting rather than goal-driven.
• Coding/music/cocktails: examples where tasks seem out of sequence or mislabeled in difficulty.

DIY, Maker Culture & Safety

• Debate over the term “maker” vs DIY/handyman; some see “maker movement” as over-commercialized, others as a useful label for fabricators and multi-disciplinary creators.
• Discussion of permits and inspections for DIY work: some emphasize how supportive and safety-enhancing permit offices can be.
• Several note many listed domains (e.g., jewelry) are actually families of distinct crafts.

Collaboration & Community Dynamics

• Project is open source; contributors are invited to refine trees and can even earn stickers.
• Some push back on harsh negativity, arguing for constructive criticism and collaboration rather than dismissal.
• Others defend critical scrutiny as part of Hacker News culture but agree tone sometimes becomes unhelpfully harsh.