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>> Once you are practiced, yes it is easier. Chopsticks are a more effective and more versatile tool, assuming you can use them fluently. “Versatile” =/= “easi

by moate 4y ago

>> Once you are practiced, yes it is easier. Chopsticks are a more effective and more versatile tool, assuming you can use them fluently. “Versatile” =/= “easier”. My mother-in-law with arthritis and no familiarity with chopsticks would disagree with you that it’s easier for her, today, to pick up a sweet pea with chopsticks vs those pincers. I would assume that if you presented people unfamiliar with eating using both implements a meal, the pincers would be selected more often. That’s what most people mean by “easy”- simpler and more intuitive.

ackfoobar 4y ago
What is easier? 100km on foot or 100km on a bicycle? Almost all people already know how to walk and run, it's simpler and more intuitive. But I bet if you know how to ride a bike, you'll pick the bike.
jacobolus 4y ago
> My mother-in-law with arthritis and no familiarity with chopsticks ... Can you see how this does not disagree with “assuming you can use them fluently”?
- moate 4y ago
  Anything you can already easily do is easy. You are correct. It’s a pointless statement, which is my point, but it is correct.
  - jacobolus 4y ago
    For someone who is fluent, an “easier” learner’s tool is often more cumbersome and less pleasant to use than the original tool. For example, instead of learning to use general-purpose kitchen knives you could buy a bunch of specialized kitchen gadgets: scallion-cutting scissors, a garlic peeler, a garlic dicer, an asparagus peeler, a strawberry stem remover, a bell pepper seed remover, a tomato slicer, a bread guillotine, an egg slicer, a banana slicer, etc. (these are real devices, not jokes). For a total novice or someone with a severe disability, these might be “easier” than just using a knife or two for the same job. But for someone who is fluent with 2–3 basic knives, these jobs are all faster, easier, and more effective to do with a knife than with the purpose-built tool; each gadget also has very limited utility and wastes space when not in use. Can you see how the unqualified statement “a banana slicer is easier to use than a chef’s knife” could also be considered misleading?

by moate 4y ago

ackfoobar 4y ago

What is easier? 100km on foot or 100km on a bicycle? Almost all people already know how to walk and run, it's simpler and more intuitive. But I bet if you know how to ride a bike, you'll pick the bike.

jacobolus 4y ago

> My mother-in-law with arthritis and no familiarity with chopsticks ... Can you see how this does not disagree with “assuming you can use them fluently”?

moate 4y ago
Anything you can already easily do is easy. You are correct. It’s a pointless statement, which is my point, but it is correct.
- jacobolus 4y ago
  For someone who is fluent, an “easier” learner’s tool is often more cumbersome and less pleasant to use than the original tool. For example, instead of learning to use general-purpose kitchen knives you could buy a bunch of specialized kitchen gadgets: scallion-cutting scissors, a garlic peeler, a garlic dicer, an asparagus peeler, a strawberry stem remover, a bell pepper seed remover, a tomato slicer, a bread guillotine, an egg slicer, a banana slicer, etc. (these are real devices, not jokes). For a total novice or someone with a severe disability, these might be “easier” than just using a knife or two for the same job. But for someone who is fluent with 2–3 basic knives, these jobs are all faster, easier, and more effective to do with a knife than with the purpose-built tool; each gadget also has very limited utility and wastes space when not in use. Can you see how the unqualified statement “a banana slicer is easier to use than a chef’s knife” could also be considered misleading?