Archer's paradox.

well, it depends on how you define a twig. Hazel is a plant that you can coppice. Cut back to the stump and it will grow very straight shoots; ideal for arrows

Trees for that sort of application would probably be pollarded or coppiced, and then they produces vigorous straight shoots. Pollarded Poplar,

I need to coppice my hazel this winter. The "twigs" are 4 inches thick.

Andy

"Shoots" = twigs.

Bit thick for an arrow.

ormula 5000 cars. Legendary (and curmudgeonly) Indycar racer AJ Foyt was st ruggling at the back of the field so, while Foyt was elsewhere, his team bo ss asked Jackie Stewart to go out for a few laps. Stewart set a middle-grid time and breezily suggested to the team that the car was OK, maybe it was the driver that was the problem. Foyt got to hear about it and came looking for Jackie...

Can't imagine anyone being good at something they aren't interested in.

I can imaging you couldn't. ;-)

Let me help you try to understand ... let's say I'm good at playing cards. I have a good memory, I generally win, but I just don't enjoy playing cards, I'm not 'interested' in doing so ... so I generally don't.

I would imagine there are millions if not billions of people out there who have stumbled into roles and jobs they aren't particularly interested in but they happen to be good at, so they stay there because (say) the money is good or they get a buzz out of some of it.

Another example for the hard of thinking ... I was looking for a change of career and after being it 'IT / Field Support' most my life was offered the role of IT Instructor. I did it for 7 years, became a CNI, MCT and A+CT and whilst I liked the money, I felt 'out of place' from day one to day 2555. I seemed to do what they required of me. I worked when I wanted. I only presented the subjects I felt comfortable with and the people (management, co workers and delegates) were great, it just wasn't 'me' (= so I wasn't interested). However, I was a professional so I gave it my 100%.

In fact it was very frustrating for the other trainers who may not have got as high a personal score on their critiques as me as most of them had always *wanted* to be a trainer / instructor. I just fell into the role when looking for something 'different'.

Lastly, after 50+ years fixing stuff for other people (and myself for that matter) I'm not 'interested' in doing most of it any more ... but still do because I can and I know what it means to them.

The problem re my own stuff is most of the things I might be interested in doing are (or really should be) so far down my 'to do' list ... ;-(

HTH

Cheers, T i m

Formula 5000 cars. Legendary (and curmudgeonly) Indycar racer AJ Foyt was struggling at the back of the field so, while Foyt was elsewhere, his team boss asked Jackie Stewart to go out for a few laps. Stewart set a middle-gr id time and breezily suggested to the team that the car was OK, maybe it wa s the driver that was the problem. Foyt got to hear about it and came looki ng for Jackie...

My French teacher reckoned I was good at it, even told my mum as such at a parent's evening and urged her to encourage me to sign up for extra tuition but I was having none of it.

Has anyone got a Tim extractor? He's so far up himself, he can't move on.

Bingo ... same with me and recorder or daughter with piano (or NAGTY) at the same age.

In a way and since being a parent myself I can see how it could be considered a 'waste' if such talents aren't capitalised upon somehow (although I'm not sure if I could make a living playing the recorder ) but at least the person has given it a try and can then make up their own mind.

There is also nothing to stop them going back to it in the future?

Cheers, T i m

Why would anyone play cards if they're not interested? All skills are learned. If people aren't interested, they won't learn.

People in "unskilled" work are there because they are not interested in learning a skill/acquiring knowledge. A form of idleness. Most would sit at home if they could get away with it. They don't enjoy their work. People that have a skill generally enjoy their work. And have aspirations.

Quite. But that wasn't the answer to your confusion. It was how can someone be good at something if they aren't interested in it and several people have tried to explain that to you now.

Duh. Like understanding a situation that others might experience, even if you haven't?

Irrelevant.

Irrelevant.

BS. I know many people who had busy / stressful jobs who then became (say) Postmen because they wanted to stay alive / sane.

'Most?'. Take care you don't fall off that ivory tower of yours harry! ;-)

And many do, but still irrelevant to the point.

Care to offer any stats on that?

And finally 'irrelevant again to helping you understand your problem: 'Can't imagine anyone being good at something they aren't interested in.'

I (and others) repeat: Having an interest in something would normally help your positivity to that something and in general. Not having an interest in something DOES NOT mean that you can't also be highly skilled at it.

When I was an IT Trainer one of my most 'keen' delegates was a company 'tea girl' who demonstrated she had a way with people and loved to help. Whilst taking her trolley round with tea a snacks she would encounter people having technical problems on their PC's and without having any skill or experience with any of it, was often able to help them out. She was 'noticed' and offered a position it their IT department and sent on some training courses. She had 'no interest' in PC's or IT as such (outside the course anyway) but was good at the people side of things (and some people *are* better at that than others ... *harry*). ;-)

Cheers, T i m

If it was not for unskilled workers then the world would come to a stop.

true, but less so these days. Robots put unskilled out of work.

Sounds like you had a lot of thick people sat at their computers if the tea girl knew more. Was she able to advise you? Confirms my suspicions about Geeks.

A lot of people do work they don't like out of financial necessity. But it's boring low paid/low skill work.

I s'pose some do really unpleasant work for good pay. Or did. Now we get migrants in to do that sort of work for peanuts.

Anybody can be good at cleaning drains. I once knew someone who found even that intensely interesting. If you asked him to clean some drains it made his day. Always came back with a blow by blow account of how the job had gone. At dinnertime usually.

But don't make out that Einstein sprang forth from nowhere. He was interested in his work, was trained and would have got nowhere if he wasn't interested in physic/cosmology.

I had? You know what I was saying about some people simply not understanding people (or understanding in general).

See above.

Are they as accurate as all your other bogus assumptions and 'understanding'?

Good, I'm glad we now have that straight.

My IT training was very well paid and interestING work but I was never interestED in doing it.

Unpleasant and uninteresting (to them) work, yes.

Nope, they still do ...

You really don't have a clue about what's going on out there do you. ;-(

No they can't.

But you didn't understand then either right?

Good for him. It's good to be interested in what you do, especially if it's something you have to do to put a roof over you and your families head.

WTF are you going on about now!

You still having trouble with that or has the penny dropped yet?

Cheers, T i m

Sherwood Forest twigs are renowned for their straightness.

It was RH and his Merry Men who were bent.

G.Harman

I agree, but then why do you want their wages to be suppressed? Most haven't seen an increase since 2005 or so.