I don't really think this is anything like that bowling analogy.
-Bowling is an explicit competition. Eating is not.
-Bowling has objective markers for performance (160/300). Eating doesn't
-Bowling is completely human created (as is software creation). As a result, both are highly abstract. Eating is one of the most basic things we all do
The skill ceiling for chopsticks is extremely low. Once the food gets into your mouth and you are able to nourish yourself, the game is solved. Bowling is capped at 300. Software creation is not capped presumably.
> It's no different from learning which forks to use in a Western formal setting.
Yes I completely agree. In my opinion it's a useless form of gatekeeping used to artificially put people in 1 class over another. This is the type of thing we do when we eat at King Charles' coronation and I reject it.
Using chopsticks is completely human created, just like bowling. Eating is a basic thing, yes, but cavemen didn't use chopsticks or other utensils (as far as we know), they used their bare hands and had little concept of hygiene which humans later created to try to minimize diseases.
The skill ceiling for chopsticks isn't that low. Try picking up individual grains of rice with them. Skilled users can do this easily; beginners, not so much. It's far more difficult than using your fingers to grab things and shove them into your mouth, which is something any toddler can do.
As for "gatekeeping", I find that one difficult to believe, since it's absolutely the norm for everyone, regardless of class, in Asian nations (namely CJK plus a few others) to use chopsticks for eating. Whereas in western nations, only certain upper-class (or aspiring) people really give a shit about which forks to use. In most Asian restaurants (in Asia), you'll have a really hard time eating if you can't use chopsticks, because it's assumed that everyone can and they don't usually provide western utensils unless it's a western-food restaurant.
-Bowling is an explicit competition. Eating is not. -Bowling has objective markers for performance (160/300). Eating doesn't -Bowling is completely human created (as is software creation). As a result, both are highly abstract. Eating is one of the most basic things we all do
The skill ceiling for chopsticks is extremely low. Once the food gets into your mouth and you are able to nourish yourself, the game is solved. Bowling is capped at 300. Software creation is not capped presumably.
> It's no different from learning which forks to use in a Western formal setting.
Yes I completely agree. In my opinion it's a useless form of gatekeeping used to artificially put people in 1 class over another. This is the type of thing we do when we eat at King Charles' coronation and I reject it.