I'll second this as someone who NEVER learned Morse code. We did lessons on it time and again during scouts, but, not only was there a near fetishistic emphasi

I'll second this as someone who NEVER learned Morse code. We did lessons on it time and again during scouts, but, not only was there a near fetishistic emphasis on the dots and dashes, there was also an angry rejection of the idea that rhythm and pauses were a part of the process. Yes, multiple combinations of dots and dashes lead to the same pattern, but you were just supposed to determine the difference from context. The adults would give us a message like the one below and then despair that our generation was full of idiots. ..... .-... -..-- -.--- --.-. .-..- .. Sometimes they took it further and had us try to decode call signs and license plates, which gleefully removed that extra layer of context. -.-.- .-.-. .---- ----- --... .---- -..