From: Bill Spight (bspight@pacbell.net)
Date: Thu 05 May 2005 - 20:06:56 GMT
Dear Kate,
>> There is a difference between the ability and the skill. The skill
>> requires both the ability and the how-to knowledge.
>>
>
> I'm not absolutely certain how you're using the words "ability" and
> "skill" here. Do you mean that in order to perform the task
> competently (have the skill) you'd need both the physical ability to
> perform it and the knowledge of how to go about it?
>
Yes. :-)
> If so, I agree. Where I was going with my suggestion (which is only
> that - a thought I had while composing the message) was that, while
> the how-to knowledge is a transmissible bit of information, the
> physical ability is not transmissible.
>
We largely agree there, too. But the physical ability is trainable and
the training is social.
> I'm wondering whether, when we learn a complex skill like
> violin-playing or walling, there is both a social and an individual
> learning element to it. So there is information that can be shared
> about it (the how-to knowledge) and an ability that can only develop
> through individual practice. This is why, no matter how many books
> they may read, seminars they may attend or videos they may watch,
> some people will never be as skilled as others. Their individual
> learning potential (both innate ability and tendency to stick at it)
> is more limited so the results are less impressive.
>
> So maybe there are phenomena that we think of as being a part of
> culture (like dancing and playing music), which are actually not
> memes but individual responses to memes.
Is it either/or?
Best,
Bill
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