Can you type without looking?

Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by GingerCoffee, May 5, 2015.

  1. D'hai

    D'hai Member

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    Can type without looking but much the same situation as @KaTrian, only on a keyboard, the phone typing is a skill I still have to master.
     
  2. J.C Adkins

    J.C Adkins Member

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    I can usually type without looking when I'm not thinking about typing. When I think about typing is when I get messed up, strangely enough.
     
  3. D'hai

    D'hai Member

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    There's a lot of instances where that happens @J.C Adkins when you think about something you have been doing without knowing and suddenly you can't do it anymore. That's why usually searching for inspiration does not work, in a way it needs to find you.
     
  4. obsidian_cicatrix

    obsidian_cicatrix I ink, therefore I am. Contributor

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    @ChaosReigns

    I was chief projectionist for a chain of cinemas....basically, I rarely saw daylight. I had great eyesight up until I was made redundant, but needed my first pair of glasses very soon after. Both eyes can't see close up, my left can't see in the distance, and not only do I have a problem with clarity, it looks as if someone has been messing around with the contrast. It's made worse by migraine auras. Added to this the difference between my left and right eyes gives me motion sickness if I'm wearing glasses while ambulatory. I was told from the outset that it is not uncommon but that the brain rewires to accommodate the change. So far it hasn't.

    Still, looking on the bright side, I did always regret the fact I couldn't touch type. By necessity or otherwise, it's a skill I admire. :D
     
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  5. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    I started as a hunt and peck typist years ago. Now I can do around 80+ wpm without looking and without typos, though I still don't place my fingers the way I am supposed to and I still do the hunt and peck method, but without the hunting :)

    Unless someone is standing over my shoulder watching me type, then my wpm drops and error rate goes up!
     
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  6. Mckk

    Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

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    I remember when I was 11, we had IT lessons once a week at school, and I was the only kid who could type, cus I'd been typing up my stories a few years prior. I felt so skilled, all the kids lining up to ask me to type things up for them :geek:

    Anyway, I'm not aware of actually looking down at my keyboard as I type. I know sometimes I glance down real quick - literally a split second - and I don't even notice myself doing it. It's not touch typing though - my mum can do that, but not me. The moment I'm actually having to type up some text, I find myself looking at the keyboard all the time. But if I'm just writing an email or my own stories etc, no, I don't generally look.
     
  7. ChaosReigns

    ChaosReigns Ov The Left Hand Path Contributor

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    sounds like a cool job!
     
  8. obsidian_cicatrix

    obsidian_cicatrix I ink, therefore I am. Contributor

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    @ChaosReigns It was indeed but I was being naive by thinking that working in near darkness wasn't gonna affect my eyesight in the long term.

    I like the description 'hunt and peck'... that's exactly my method. Unlike Steerpike, my efforts are littered with typos but even with the time taken to make corrections, I can still type quicker than I can write by hand.
     
  9. ToBeInspired

    ToBeInspired Senior Member

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    I could type with one hand, eyes closed, and have a conversation at the same time. It would drastically reduce my speed, but it's all a mental image in the background of my mind. It's very nearly the same as breathing.
     
  10. outsider

    outsider Contributor Contributor

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    I can type without looking, I can also go my bike 'no handies'.

    #stupid thread
     
  11. Lewdog

    Lewdog Come ova here and give me kisses! Supporter Contributor

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  12. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    Then why did you bother posting in it?
     
  13. outsider

    outsider Contributor Contributor

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    To voice my annoyance, as is my right. I just typed that without looking too.
    Shit, I may have validated your thread.
     
  14. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    You have the right to insult me, (and anyone else that found the thread not stupid). I have the right to point out the hypocrisy in complaining about something whilst participating nonetheless.
     
  15. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    It may be a stupid topic if one is oblivious to what is actually going on in the brain . I, myself, found it interesting to consider the implications of unconscious things our brains do. Your fingers are acting outside of some aspect of your consciousness. The reflex of knowing where those keys are is bypassing direct conscious thought even though you are consciously thinking of the letters.

    This case study of a brain damaged woman might better explain what I'm getting at:

    PERCEPTION AND ACTION IN 'VISUAL FORM AGNOSIA
    The woman could not copy or describe the angle of a slot she was shown, but her hand could mimic the angle of the slot with little error.
     
  16. outsider

    outsider Contributor Contributor

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    @GingerCoffee: Are you always so uptight and devoid of humour or do you just save it for the forum? Lighten up, will you?
     
  17. Merlin

    Merlin Member

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    YI tyoped this without looking, so yeah, I guess.

    Ish.
     
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  18. outsider

    outsider Contributor Contributor

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    There's that damned dry humour again. It's not allowed mate. We're talking about unconscious cognitive behaviour here, or something. It's a scientific study.
     
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  19. Merlin

    Merlin Member

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    Oops. That's what I get for not reading the whole thread I guess.
     
  20. daemon

    daemon Contributor Contributor

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    I use the Dvorak layout, but I do not have a keyboard with labels in the Dvorak positions. So I have no choice but to type without looking at the keyboard. I rely entirely on muscle memory. I could not even tell you where half of the letters are on the Dvorak layout.

    It was difficult to learn the layout that way, but it was so worth it.

    When I am on someone else's computer and I either cannot or do not have time to change the layout, I need to look at the keyboard to type QWERTY.
     
  21. daemon

    daemon Contributor Contributor

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    You will know you are fast when someone says you type like a programmer. :p
     
  22. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    If I was just starting out, I would have reprogramed my keyboard to Dvorak. I'm well aware of the drawbacks that resulted from needing to prevent the keys from jamming up on manual typewriters. But now it would mean starting over learning. It's easier to fix the repeating typos Qwerty results in.
     
  23. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    I, sadly, cannot. :( I almost had the skill down in high school, but after joining the military and serving as a Russian interpreter, the need to learn to use a Cyrillic keyboard forever banished me to the hunt & peck pile as regards a Latin keyboard. o_O
     
  24. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Behold, the Truth Speaker! ;)
     
  25. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    Does anyone use DVORAK on one computer and QWERTY on another? Is it a pain to switch back and forth?

    I'd love to give DVORAK a try, but I use quite a few different computers, several for work, and I wouldn't be able to switch them all to DVORAK. Deal breaker?
     

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