They can both be, but there are two things to note. One is to make the distinction between being logical and being rational. So in this man's context I think it's fair to he may have logically coherent reasons for doing what he's doing. (ie it's internally consistent within his own framework).
However, I'd question the overall rationality of this. I mean we're on a path of accelerating technologization, AI, robots etc, and this guy wants to head back to the bronze age. So while there's a certain charming appeal to his vision, one should consider being a simple land dweller has traditionally not worked out so well, for those less advanced cultures. [1]
> I mean we're on a path of accelerating technologization, AI, robots etc, and this guy wants to head back to the bronze age.
I don't think he wants to head back to the bronze age. The reverse seems to be true; he wants a future where everyone has vast knowledge and a wide set of skills, and everyone has his own CNC multimachines, robots, all that. Why not AI?
But to achieve that, you need to take a few steps back from the technology that is currently operative in large corporations with the capacity to invest millions into it. If they can bring the price point down and simplify the machines enough that they're accessible to everyone, then the capability to produce more and more advanced technology is spread wide. Through open source design, people would share recipes, ideas and improvements into these homemade devices; technology would advance faster and it'd be easier to get machines that solve special problems for which the solution right now would be far too expensive because there's no mass market for it.
Your comment clarified exactly what is so willfully foolish about this whole enterprise.
"he wants a future where everyone has vast knowledge and a wide set of skills, and everyone has his own CNC multimachines, robots, all that"
It is a nice fantasy to imagine everyone everywhere being self sufficient, but unlike the movies, a single person does not have the time nor the mental capacity to become an expert at everything. Specialization begat the modern world (and vice versa).
Mao had a great idea to make everyone self sufficient by forging steel in their back yards to instantly industrialize. No one knew what they were doing properly, so you got massive quantities of nearly useless scrap, fueled by wasting previously productive inputs. The parallels are striking.
You missed the point about "open source", or information sharing. With the right machines and a library of shared knowledge, you don't have to be an expert at everything.
But if people actually strived for it, and their lives began in communities where building, maintaining and operating your own machinery is a part of life, most people could actually actually know heck of a lot about them.
However, I'd question the overall rationality of this. I mean we're on a path of accelerating technologization, AI, robots etc, and this guy wants to head back to the bronze age. So while there's a certain charming appeal to his vision, one should consider being a simple land dweller has traditionally not worked out so well, for those less advanced cultures. [1]
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns,_Germs,_and_Steel