"Dee D. Flint" wrote in message gy.com...
"Radio Amateur KC2HMZ" wrote in message
...
On 20 Jul 2003 02:35:45 GMT, ospam (Larry Roll K3LT)
wrote:
My statement about future hams having no experience with Morse/CW
is plain FACT, not opinion, Bill.
There seem to be quite a few hams now who have no experience with
Morse/CW. There are 257,319 Technicians in the ARS, according to the
most recently posted figures from N2EY, some of which are undoubtedly
former Tech-Plus licensees renewed as Technician, but most of whom are
undoubtedly of the no-code variety.
20% renewals is a reasonable estimate.
Even if 20% are renewed Tech+ then
that's still over 200,000 hams with no Morse/CW experience.
Actually, that's not strictly true. We don't know how many of those
~200,000 have experience with code. An unknown number have the Element
1 CSCE, but haven't passed General theory yet. Others are studying but
haven't passed the code test - yet.
It is also a fact that because of their
lack of experience, they are self-disqualified from having an "opinion"
about the subject.
I disagree - it's not a fact, it's your opinion. I also happen to
disagree with that opinion.
Anyone can have an opinion about anything. Whether that opinion is
based on reasonable evidence and logic or not is another matter. For
example, a person who says that Sealtest vanilla bean ice cream is the
best ice cream in the world but has only tried a few other types of
ice cream isn't basing that opinion on reasonable evidence and logic.
Larry, no disrespect intended here, but what's your current opinion of
eating...oh...how about...elephant dung, for example?
Most of us would say that the idea sounds quite disgusting, no thanks,
I'll pass. Same goes for cat dung, rat dung, bat dung, or any other
kind of dung for that matter. I don't need to have tasted 'em all in
order to form that opinion.
Bad analogy. Here's why:
You would be hard pressed to find a rational person, at any time or in
any culture, who finds that activity anything other than disgusting.
Also, taste and smell are closely related, and it's very rare that
something will smell bad but taste good.
Similarly, one does not need to have
learned to send and receive CW at 50 WPM in order to decide that one
is not interested in that particular mode.
Not similarly. But the rest of the statement is quite reasonable. It's
like saying "I tried sushi a few times and I just don't like them. I
know others do, but not me. You go ahead, I'll have a cheeseburger."
(There's actually a song by Pat Donahue about this).
That's a specious argument and you know it.
You do have to actually eat an apple to determine if you will like it. It's
not possible to determine what a cake or whatever will taste like by reading
the ingredients of the mix. You have to eat it.
Smell can be an indicator, too. And it's possible to use all the right
ingredients and yet bake a terrible cake.
For example, I hate
tomatoes, cheeses, and garlic.
But you tried those things before you decided you hated them, right?
Yet I could not predetermine what pizza
tasted like. I had to try it. And you know what, I love pizza.
With anchovies?
Note that it is not my intention to equate CW skills with animal dung,
the skill remains a useful one to have and I don't begrudge those who
enjoy CW their pleasure at using the mode - not for a single minute.
Yes it was and yes you do or you would not have used the dung comparison.
There's the Utah Phillips story about the moose....
I'm merely pointing out that expertise at a particular activity is not
a prerequisite for deciding whether or not one wishes to pursue said
activity. Do I need to be able to deadlift 600 pounds in order to
decide I don't wish to be an olympic weightlifter? Nope. Can I
currently deadlift 600 pounds? Nope. Does that render my decision to
not try to deadlift 600 pounds invalid? Nope.
Which boils down to "I don't think I will like that".
CW skills are more like music. You have to acquire a BASIC level of skill
to determine if you will like it. Almost every adult that I know wishes
they had learned to play an instrument and wishes their parents had made
them take lessons.
I wish I'd had the opportunity, anyway.
Simple question: Have you ever thought you wouldn't like something,
tried it anyway, and decided you really liked it? Example: ever get
dragged to a movie you thought you wouldn't like and wound up liking
it so much that you bought the tape/DVD?
73 de Jim, N2EY