"It is just familiarity with the task, and that our culture takes it for granted, that keeps us from noticing how complex a task it is."
Same goes for walking, actually. In college, I once had a physical anthropology professor (the incomparably marvelous Janet Monge) demonstrate all the complexity inherent in a bipedal hominid's walking pattern, by walking on the table in front of us and breaking down each step.
I had the hardest time walking back to the dorm that afternoon without tripping.
Y'know, it did occur to me that for folks who knew how complex walking is, that might not have been the best example... ;-)
Yes, bipedal locomotion is mechanically complex -- I recall a professor explaining and demonstrating that a part of each step was spent falling, and challenged us to walk without any falling. I succeeded, demonstrating a gait that looked like something from the Ministry of Silly Walks.
Anyhow, phenomenologically, walking -- once past toddlerhood -- feels simple until we get old enough / ill / injured / drunk enough for it to stop being automatic. The same can be said, I suppose, of driving, but more of the people reading this will be able to remember learning to drive than will remember learning to walk. I think. Certainly, walking doesn't usually require taking a class and getting a license from the state, adjusting mirrors, and reading guages ...
... But I do need to come up with a better example.
I was thinking about skating, and trying to decide whether it's more complex or less. Mechanically, it is much simpler, despite the trickier balance problem. I think. You certainly don't spend as much time falling when skating as opposed to walking. (Though I'll concede that when you do fall while skating, you notice it more, since most people aren't aware of the falling portion of a walking step until somebody else points it out.) But I haven't spent as much time really analyzing what my knees and ankles are doing when skating, so I hesitate to state a very strong position on the matter.
Actually, a good martial arts instructor or fencing coach has, or should have, spent a great deal of time thinking about how complex walking is... After all, part of the skill set that's being learned is to walk and move in ways that are "different".
(no subject)
Same goes for walking, actually. In college, I once had a physical anthropology professor (the incomparably marvelous Janet Monge) demonstrate all the complexity inherent in a bipedal hominid's walking pattern, by walking on the table in front of us and breaking down each step.
I had the hardest time walking back to the dorm that afternoon without tripping.
(no subject)
Yes, bipedal locomotion is mechanically complex -- I recall a professor explaining and demonstrating that a part of each step was spent falling, and challenged us to walk without any falling. I succeeded, demonstrating a gait that looked like something from the Ministry of Silly Walks.
Anyhow, phenomenologically, walking -- once past toddlerhood -- feels simple until we get old enough / ill / injured / drunk enough for it to stop being automatic. The same can be said, I suppose, of driving, but more of the people reading this will be able to remember learning to drive than will remember learning to walk. I think. Certainly, walking doesn't usually require taking a class and getting a license from the state, adjusting mirrors, and reading guages ...
... But I do need to come up with a better example.
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)