marie@harvard.ARPA (Marie Desjardins) (11/13/84)
At least if you learn to tie shoelaces, you know how to tie a knot. Unless you plan to put Velcro on the ends of every string in the world... Marie desJardins marie@harvard
allenm@ittvax.UUCP (Allen Matsumoto) (11/13/84)
> At least if you learn to tie shoelaces, you know how to tie a knot. > Unless you plan to put Velcro on the ends of every string in the > world... > > Marie desJardins > marie@harvard I didn't read the original of the shoelace controversy, but I infer someone noted that IT ISN'T NECESSARY TO FORCE EVERYONE TO LEARN THE SKILL OF TYING SHOES. I agree with that. (If my inference is wrong, then I'm just agreeing with myself, but I've done that before.) IF SECURING SHOES IS THE GOAL, ANY MEANS SHOULD SUFFICE. Else we could argue against slip-on shoes, cowboy boots, zipper boots, etc. How many adults refrain from using <generic term for slip-on shoes> fearing loss of knot-tying skill. IF KNOT TYING PRACTICE IS IMPORTANT, we are missing lots of opportunities. How many adults wear bow ties for knot-tying practice. Are you willing to forgo tape, velcro, snaps, buttons, ...? Think how much practice we could all get if tying knots were the only socially approved means of securing EVERYTHING. The Boy Scouts would have to stop giving merit badges for knot-tying if we all were so proficient. (I do tie my own shoes, and bow ties. And I used to be a Boy Scout and a climber. I even tie packages when I mail them. But I like having a choice.) IF PEOPLE NEED TO TIE KNOTS, THEY CAN ALWAYS LEARN HOW TO. Knot tying is not a difficult skill to acquire. It just takes practice and/or motivation. People seem to learn best when self-motivated. A need to tie knots is better motivation than having shoes with laces. Other shoes don't require laces, and even shoes with laces don't need to be tied to function for many occasions (kids do that, you know). There is a tendency in this society to justify lots of things as a means to some other related thing. CUT IT OUT! Can't we factor shoes from knots, church attendance from morality, test scores from education, manners from civility, etc. ad nauseum. The conventional way of securing shoes had knot practice as a useful side effect. Let us not upgrade the side effect into the goal when the original goal is bypassed by technology. (Some similar comment could be made here about calculators and computers, but I don't want to get into all that.) Yours for a well-partitioned goal set. -- Allen Matsumoto ITT Adv. Tech. Center, Stratford, CT 06497 203-385-7218 (decvax!ittvax!allenm)