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I've been typing for 36 years now (since I was a child), and have never had RSI once, or anything close to it. I think it's because I never learned to touch-ty
by esja 6y ago
I've been typing for 36 years now (since I was a child), and have never had RSI once, or anything close to it.
I think it's because I never learned to touch-type "properly". I use most of my fingers, and I type very fast, but I'm not hitting the "correct" keys with the "correct" fingers - I'm just following whatever comfortable patterns I've burned into muscle memory over all these years.
If someone asked me to describe exactly what I do - where my hands and fingers hover, which ones hit which keys, etc., I wouldn't be able to answer properly without first filming myself.
I did once try to learn to touch-type "properly". It didn't feel comfortable and started to hurt after only doing it for a little while, so I stopped.
- robotmay 6y agoThis is very much my experience! When I developed RSI I immediately went down the ergo-keyboard route, assuming I had been doing something wrong, when in reality it was just the change to a laptop for a long time. It was quite weird filming myself and looking back at it. I never even noticed that I regularly hit Y with my left hand, for example!
- EvanAnderson 6y agoI've heard the same story from others, and it's my story too. I type fast enough and accurately enough to get ideas out of my head. I tried to type "correctly" way back in junior high (on a typewriter, no less!) but found that my personal technique (developed since first using Apple II's at 8 y/o) worked better (even on a real typewriter). Thirty-six years typing this way and never any pain. I know what you mean re: the muscle memory being burned in. It, no doubt, contributes to my frustration when developers change keyboard shortcuts in systems I've used for years. When Microsoft decided to change "Log off..." to "Sign out" (in Windows 10? 8? I can't recall...) I lost my go-to <CTRL>-<ESC> <ESC> <ALT>-<F4> <L> <ENTER> shortcut for logging off. Now I have to look at the screen to make sure my <S> isn't getting "Switch User", "Sign Out", "Sleep" or "Shutdown". (I guess I was the only person in the world who found the keyboard shortcuts for those choices being dis-ambiguous to be valuable...)
- Diederich 6y agoI've been typing on a daily basis for the past 41 years. I took a typing class 36 years ago, and have continued to type probably 90-95% 'properly' ever since. This class paid off by the way, and my accurate typing speed peaked at around 140 words per minute. Like you, I've been blessed with never having any hint of RSI. I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, but I think the whole 'RSI landscape' is, as with most things, very complex, including a lot of poorly understood or currently unknown factors.
- xyzzy_plugh 6y agoInterestingly enough I only really touch-type "properly" with my left hand and that's the one I experience RSI symptoms in.
- polyterative 6y agoI had a very bad episode before touche typing and several less severe after colemak. Sheer workload seems to be the cause
- logbiscuitswave 6y agoThank you for posting this. I don’t type “properly” either and even though I type quickly even with an unorthodox style I still feel self-conscious about it at times.
- bbatha 6y agoCounter point I touch type properly (developed with good form around 15) and I just had to visit a hand specialist for RSI at 30.