4 ms·

Writing Is a Visual Language

24 points by luu 2y ago

cortesoft 2y ago
So blind people don't write?
- MathMonkeyMan 2y ago
  I've read that a lot of visual and linguistic neurology is connected to the fingers.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- 082349872349872 2y ago
  TFA says basic writing skills should be drilled until they become automatic, at which point you can work on higher stuff, like expression. It could alternatively have been titled "Writing is a Sport", but they chose drawing as their analogy, hence the visual language language.
- bayindirh 2y ago
  They can. More impressively they can draw/paint, and some of them do it in a perspective correct way, too!
netcan 2y ago
I enjoyed this read. Seems to be a theme, in this generation, that the "skill building" paradigm is useful. Speed is a skill. Physical strength is a skill. Emotional stability is skill. The skill paradigm can often be abstracted as stimulus-> adaption. The concepts seems to be applicable to "physical/motoric" skills as they are to cognitive or emotional skills. I'm a believer. I suspect (just musing) that some degree of Hegelian ping pong is going on. Early 20th century education systems were highly skill based. These were (and are) criticized for their "rote learning" deficiencies. Creative inadequacy and inability to apply skills/knowledge creatively. I think there is a point of tension between these two. This could probably be formalized further. For example, skill transfer seems to decline as you progress a skill. Specialization. But... I'm not sure that kind of thinking is useful. I do think if we are becoming highly focused on "skill based learning," we need to balance that (especially young children) with a rich/holistic approach.... which tends to be structurally opposed to skill acquisition. Programming ability, for example. A lot of people have been trained, yet cannot programmed at all. What they seem to have in common is never having "tried to do a thing." Unstructured, inexplicitly motivated, determined effort to reach some sort of result by drawing on whatever skills you do have. A lot of "skills" are illegible, difficult to isolate, name or train explicitly. I suspect that overemphasis on skill can result in these becoming a limiting factor. Beware the local optima.

24 points by luu 2y ago

cortesoft 2y ago

So blind people don't write?

MathMonkeyMan 2y ago
I've read that a lot of visual and linguistic neurology is connected to the fingers.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
082349872349872 2y ago
TFA says basic writing skills should be drilled until they become automatic, at which point you can work on higher stuff, like expression. It could alternatively have been titled "Writing is a Sport", but they chose drawing as their analogy, hence the visual language language.
bayindirh 2y ago
They can. More impressively they can draw/paint, and some of them do it in a perspective correct way, too!

netcan 2y ago

I enjoyed this read. Seems to be a theme, in this generation, that the "skill building" paradigm is useful. Speed is a skill. Physical strength is a skill. Emotional stability is skill. The skill paradigm can often be abstracted as stimulus-> adaption. The concepts seems to be applicable to "physical/motoric" skills as they are to cognitive or emotional skills. I'm a believer. I suspect (just musing) that some degree of Hegelian ping pong is going on. Early 20th century education systems were highly skill based. These were (and are) criticized for their "rote learning" deficiencies. Creative inadequacy and inability to apply skills/knowledge creatively. I think there is a point of tension between these two. This could probably be formalized further. For example, skill transfer seems to decline as you progress a skill. Specialization. But... I'm not sure that kind of thinking is useful. I do think if we are becoming highly focused on "skill based learning," we need to balance that (especially young children) with a rich/holistic approach.... which tends to be structurally opposed to skill acquisition. Programming ability, for example. A lot of people have been trained, yet cannot programmed at all. What they seem to have in common is never having "tried to do a thing." Unstructured, inexplicitly motivated, determined effort to reach some sort of result by drawing on whatever skills you do have. A lot of "skills" are illegible, difficult to isolate, name or train explicitly. I suspect that overemphasis on skill can result in these becoming a limiting factor. Beware the local optima.