Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: thoughtful

Caveman Skills

Today we needed a crockpot lined with foil.  Therefore I needed to know how much foil to pull off the roll.  Now, I know there's a formula for calculating that; I could've looked it up.  But I wanted to figure out a way to do it myself, without the math.  So I used a piece of string to measure the inside of the crock, and then the foil.  Problem solved, no math required!

This is a vital life skill.  You don't have to be able to do everything, just know how to get everything done.  Schools don't teach it, parents these days are often unavailable, so people may not learn it.  There are usually a lot of different ways to accomplish things.  I could just as easily have asked my partner, who was three feet away chopping peppers.  But I'm proud of myself for knowing how to figure out these little everyday puzzles -- the stuff that ordinary people actually need math for, only a lot of time, you don't need the numbers.  You need an amount  of something.  That can usually be obtained through practical methods, faster and more accurately if you are not good with numbers.  I'm good with string.

The other thing is that a friend of ours was practicing with his longbow out in our yard, and let us try it.  This is the first time I've gotten to fire a longbow in this life -- the others were compounds.  It was way too heavy a draw for me, but I did manage to launch an arrow with it, and not smack my boobs or elbow with the string.  I remember how to do it, even if this body won't really go there.  Close enough is ... not good enough to put a rabbit in the pot, but good enough to put a smile on my face for sheer nostalgia.
Tags: history, life lessons, personal
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  • 5 comments
fayanora

fayanora

November 22 2014, 23:26:18 UTC 6 years ago

You should read "Civilization One: The World is Not as You Thought it Was" by Christopher Knight and Alan Butler. It's basically these guys using science to show that the megalithic peoples who made Stonehenge measured things with a string pendulum and the stars. It's fascinating reading. Like, the string pendulum helped them figure out how long a string they'd need for different lengths. The authors show that the megalithic yard, which is based on a primitive version of pi, breaks down into a whole measurement system that fits every megalithic construction perfectly.
ysabetwordsmith

Well...

ysabetwordsmith

November 23 2014, 00:10:18 UTC 6 years ago

I haven't read that specific source, but have read about the megalithic yard and traditional measuring methods. I once wrote a class on stone circles for the Mathemagick department at the Grey School of Wizardry.
fayanora

Re: Well...

fayanora

November 23 2014, 00:12:27 UTC 6 years ago

Well it's a fascinating read, and available in ebook format (epub on bn.com or Kindle on Amazon) for $1.99, and there are free programs to read epubs on your computer.
fayanora

Re: Well...

fayanora

November 23 2014, 00:13:17 UTC 6 years ago

Also bn.com has a free web based Nook book reader built into it.
cat_sanctuary

cat_sanctuary

November 23 2014, 20:41:51 UTC 6 years ago

I lack a lot of caveman skills that might be useful someday...but seem to "earn my 'weirdo' label" adequately just by cultivating my 1914 skills (cooking with wood, more garbage than wood actually, and eating wild food, and darning things and so on...not to mention typing on a typewriter).