Evidence That We Are Genetically Inclined Toward Knives

Puleio said:
^That is wonderful.

At age 3 1/2, my little girl wanted to start helping in the kitchen, since both Mom and Dad cook, and we ended up getting a Curious Chef tool set. It includes kids sized handles on tools like whisks and spatulas. There are also three serrated plastic knives. They are a safe tool for basic chopping tasks, but not for fine or delicate work, obviously.

That Opinel knife was considered before, and is on the list for the near future. I had wanted to get one instead of the Curious Chef set, but was overruled by Mama. :oops: I think she'd be OK with it now, or by Christmas. In the meantime, my daughter uses her "knives", and the paring knifes from the block, or her Vic, with careful supervision (of course).
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That's fantastic. There's nothing like the pride of a child who gets to "feed the family." My little guy literally shakes with joy and pride when I tell him how wonderful a meal tastes because he prepared it.
Being able to use a tool properly and achieve a fine result is a serious confidence booster, and not in the millennial "participation award" kind of way. It represents acquiring and building a skillset, that actually has a very practical use.

Take a look at the pictures I posted above. Figuring out hot to cut out segments of broccoli is a great example. A kid examines a 3 dimensional object, figures out where the natural lines in it are, and then uses fine motor skills and precise hand/eye coordination to cut exactly where he means to cut, all the while keeping in mind all the basic safety rules like keeping a good grasp on the blade, not getting fingers in the way of the edge etc...

It's stuff that we take for granted, but those skills have to start somewhere. I think that a kid using a knife properly is a wonderful way to develop not only knife skills, but a lot of transferrable skills and multitasking skills that come along with it.
 
I was told about knives, and what can happen when not being careful, by my dad.
At 10 yrs, I was playing with my pocket, being silly, cut my finger pretty good. I could not /would not tell anyone certainly not my dad. I learned a very good lesson that day.
 
MSchott said:
I'm offended by this kind of language. This is 2018, we don't talk like that any more. The less distinction between sexes the better when it comes to capabilities.
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Appreciate the lesson, but I don't see where the poster makes a distinction about capabilities, only differences.
 
MSchott said:
I only quoted the part where the poster said don't turn boys into girls. That's outmoded thinking and is sexist.
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C'mon! If we don't let our kids indulge in dangerous situations like playing unsupervised with chainsaws they will get all soft and helpless like girls are!

;)

You nailed it. Girls and boys should not be taught differently. Give them all knives, and hammers, and mixers, and needle/thread, etc, teach them to use them all and make them into people who can go out into the world and function under any circumstance. They should all know how to bake cookies and make a fuzz stick.
 
MSchott said:
I only quoted the part where the poster said don't turn boys into girls. That's outmoded thinking and is sexist.
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No it's not.
I think what he's saying is that giving little Billy some hot wheels a bb gun and a pocket knife won't stop him from potentially taking a different life path as an adult. You shouldn't go around worrying about how things may effect their ability to choose a life path / sexuality...ect they may eventually choose as an adult, let a boy have boy stuff if they want boy stuff.
Btw my brother cut him self quite a bit with knives as a kid because my mom never taught him about them, she was the " don't touch type " .
You can't just say don't touch and leave it at that, kids want what they can't have.
If he knew more than that they were something cool he wasn't allowed to have he would've been better off.
 
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. . . Are. . . We Genetically Inclined Toward Knives (?)
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I would have to say NO.
Just about everyone I meet and have interaction with about knives, including just observing them attempting to pierce or sever or other wise interact with some medium with some sort of kind of knife like pokey thing (think scissors opened all the way back) . . .
Nah dude, nah.
At least around here people are :
  • totally freaked by anything that is ACTUALLY sharp and can't wait to get away from it let alone actually pick it up and use if for some constructive purpose.
  • Any "knife" they seem to have accidentally wound up with in their pocket is beat and dull.
  • when I offer to sharpen it they avoid me for days.
  • when I offer to teach them to sharpen if they will buy their own stone . . . they don't go further and ask which stone or actually come up with anything on their own.
  • when they see me use an actual quality knife they find some snide comment to make about the knife even while I am working and attempting to make their life easier.
  • knives (folding / slip joints) have disappeared from the best local backpacking store. Goodwill got rid of their knife case.
  • the local fly fishing store and guide shop . . . when I called to ask which knives they carry for sale . . . said KNIVES ! . . . . oh . . . errrr . . . I'll go look; and then mentioned some brand I had never heard of and that was all they had. (I was thinking if they had a certain model of Benchmade, or some such I forget now, I might buy locally )

and . . . get this . . . I'm living in a town in the Wild, Wild, West . . . high plains desert within running distance of a 14,000 foot mountain. We're not talking down town Philly.
I don't know . . . I don't know :( . . . I just don't :(:( . . . know.
 
Wowbagger said:
I would have to say NO.
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Ah, but you are forgetting about the wonderful phenomena of mutation, whereby the genetic code gets a tweak that results in a change that could be favorable. Or it could be lethal, because Mother Nature cares about species and not individuals and she has no qualms about kicking you out of the gene pool. For thousands of years the Knife Gene resulted in survival and reproductive success, and it is only recently that people lacking the Knife Gene have become dominant. Time will tell if it is them or us who are the mutants.....I predict a mass die-off of the non-Knife Gene members when they become completely incapable of opening food packets.
 
BitingSarcasm said:
Ah, but you are forgetting about the wonderful phenomena of mutation, whereby the genetic code gets a tweak that results in a change that could be favorable. Or it could be lethal, because Mother Nature cares about species and not individuals and she has no qualms about kicking you out of the gene pool. For thousands of years the Knife Gene resulted in survival and reproductive success, and it is only recently that people lacking the Knife Gene have become dominant. Time will tell if it is them or us who are the mutants.....I predict a mass die-off of the non-Knife Gene members when they become completely incapable of opening food packets.
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Ya know, you may have just hit on the way to conquer the world! Alexander tried and failed, Napoleon tried and failed, Hitler tried and failed. But now we have the technology and means.

Start a program to place ALL food in sturdy plastic blister packages for 'The safety of the children' so it can't be tampered with. Then all the non knife carrying people won't be able to open the plastic food packages. The knife nuts will rule the world!:eek:

:D
 
marcinek said:
Strong disagree.

1) Using a knife is not a "dangerous activity" unless you are not taught how to use one correctly. Anything is. Kids need to be taught how to use knives correctly.
2) Kids who are allowed to engage in dangerous activities don't end up "tough," they end up dead. Children should protected...but also taught. It how society/culture works.

Watched a great Nova on PBS years back about monkeys. They are plenty smart, they can use tools, but they don't have the capability to pass the knowledge they have gained about using the tools onto their children. They are on their own.

Or maybe they are just worried about them getting "soft."
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For most of human history , there was not the excess store of wealth to accommodate those who couldn't contribute materially to the group . Children had to grow up ASAP and there wasn't much care for the very old or otherwise useless . This was just the reality of survival . When times get bad , this harsh reality returns . We're over due .
 
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