I can definitely relate to the helmet one. I wore my helmet whenever riding my bike as a kid, and my friends teased me about it all the time. Eventually they convinced me to stop wearing it and LITERALLY THE VERY FIRST TIME I rode my bike without a helmet, I fell off and got a concussion. They definitely felt really bad about pressuring me to take the helmet off, and one of them started always wearing helmets after that.
+PokemonTom09 That is a cool anecdote. Is it worth it, though? That is the question: was your accident worth the awareness spread for your friends? Is it worth it for someone else to be hurt for you to be aware? The literally benefited from someone else's unpleasant experience, after all...
I crossed a sidewalk with my bike and I didn’t notice a car coming and the car’s mirror hit me lucky I wasn’t hurt the worst thing that happened was my right ring finger got sprained but now I’m really cautious when crossing the street and I’m lucky because I could have died or gone into coma or like broken my arm or leg
@@octosaurinvasion We were really young at the time, I honestly don't remember if my other friends started wearing helmets after that event. I just remember that one of them did and explicitly told me it was because of my concussion that he started doing it.
I share your quandary with "always and never" rules, as I am a chemist working in the chemical industry. I am constantly surrounded by highly toxic materials that I handle on a daily basis, and must practice a lot of habits that i know keep me safe, yet they are at times annoying and intrusive. However, i'll never forget what one of my managers said at a monthly safety meeting: "Safety rules are written in blood". And it's true. Even the dumbest and most inane rules around safety are there because someone didn't follow that rule and ended up injured or dead. So when I have issues with safety rules making me jump through ALL THE HOOPS, I find it helpful to think of what kind of incident got that rule got enacted in the first place. There's always a reason, even if it's not a good one.
As a professional knife user, I must also protest entirely to the concept of design embedded tool limitations. Tools must cover as wide an area of usefulness as possible, so that they will overlap in usefulness with other tools, and so that no implementation will fall outside of that Venn diagram, and into that grey void we know as "the impossible." Tool use is AWAYS a calculated risk- we take it to get what we want. I think where the problem gets a bit harder is when the liberties that we take during this pursuit place _others_ at risk. Great post, thanks ;)
I think the inclusion of a safety feature is something that requires its own risk:benefit analysis. There may be some situations where a safety feature limits the functionality of the tool, but it's often worth all of the fingers and blood that it saves. On the other hand, there may be others that really get in the way but only prevent a small risk. How much does the roll cage on my UTV limit its mobility on the trail vs. how likely is it to save me from injury and/or death? For some trails I have to work on, I think it's worth it. For others, maybe not.
It's like what Doug Gwyn wrote about the operating system Unix: "Unix wasn't designed to stop you from doing stupid things, because that would also stop you from doing clever things"
@@sheepphic Unfortunately that has aged very poorly in this age where lives may be literally put at risk due to the integration of computers into medical equipment, aircraft, communications, you name it. And of course the rise of hacking, malware etc etc, where any flaws can be leveraged by the malicious to cause unbelievable damage. Of course an OS design can't be blamed for all poor programming or misuse, but the more that can be done to plug the holes at different layers of the Swiss cheese, the less likely something bad will find its way though.
Your story about cutting yourself with a pocketknife while whittling sticks into pointier sticks really hits home for me, because I did the exact same thing when I was younger. Only differences are that I was never advised about which direction not to cut and I sliced my finger deep enough that I still have a clearly visible scar over a decade later. I'm glad you didn't hurt yourself too badly.
Always cut away from yourself rule is super important, when you consider the any professional has a second rule of always use a sharp knife. Although logically you may think a dull knife is less likely to cut you. Statically in a professional sense the opposite is true as dull knifes are more likely to slip an lose control of, so having equipment that does what is needs to do is very important.
+129das There's also the risk compensation effect: people tend to take greater risks when the perceived safety increases (like when a knife is duller).
+129das There's also the risk compensation effect: people tend to take greater risks when the perceived safety increases (like when a knife is duller).
My thought process of any VI Hart Video. 1. Yeah, that makes sense 2. Wait....what 3. .......(silence because I don't get a single thing 4. *Mind Blown*
I'm very pleased to see that you're making videos again, even if it's just two in the now four months of this year! Hope to see more when possible. Thank you!
Me too message from a person that doesn’t exist anymore who wouldn’t get this message, while a future person with only some memories of the long gone person but very different experiences thinks this message is for them!
My father is a woodcarver and the way he taught me is almost 90% cutting towards your tumb. That's because these are very sharp small concave blades on big handles and this allows you to be very precise whereas when you cut away from yourself, in he scenarios when you want to cut off bigger pieces, you apply much more force and it can easily slip and cut your leg. (You keep the piece of wood on your lap for added stability) My only cut from woodcarvng is actually on my knee and it's a good inch long and 1cm deep so yeah, if you know what you're doing, it's actually better to always cut towards yourself.
+3NGIN33R I believe it depends on the tool, the piece being made, and the person doing the cutting. If it's a kid cutting the bark off a stick, away is most definitely the best choice. If it's an adult whittling wooden horse with a carving knife, toward would be much better for control. If it's an adult chiseling out a high relief with a v-tool, once again away is the smart decision. There's no definitive correct choice, but Vi-Hart's (and my) parents were wise in their rulemaking.
+hectorbector11 Also one might well argue that a 1cm cut in the top of your leg where there aren't any life threatening veins is better than a 1cm cut into your thumb which for a child is damn near hewing the whole thing off. Even if cutting a short piece that doesn't extend beyond your leg.
hectorbector11 What I was saying is that it's better to learn how to cut rather than in which direction. And of course, not just a kid but anyone clearing the bark should cut away, not just for safety but also efficiency. Also, I'm not sure what an v-tool is, I only know the names of the tools in my language but if it's anything like a v shaped chisel, you can't really do it any other way than cutting away. A lot of the time it's which way it goes at all rather than which way is safe.
After a lack of existential crisis after showing her how the univers will end (along with black holes and neutron stars courtesy of crash course), after showing her this, my little sister finally admitted confusion and awe! Thanks Vi Hart, for making videos that confuse 9 year olds.
+nickwoo2 I had no idea that files had directionality until this video. The one I use almost daily doesn't seem to have a problem from it, but maybe I can use it better.
I don't usually comment, but this video was so exceptional that it merited one. Thank you for bringing our thoughts onto another realm and making the confusing clear.
This discussion (specifically the quote "You can't put a price on life") reminds me of a case study my first year engineering profession and practice course did on the Ford Pinto. The car had a nasty design flaw where the fuel tank position didn't have enough "crush space" and in the event of a crash, the bolts on the rear axle tore the tank open which made it very prone to fires. Ford did a cost benefit analysis comparing the price of recall vs the societal cost of the injuries (where they placed a price on human life), in the end the analysis dictated that it was "cheaper to let them burn". I'm studying mechanical engineering and this video just reminded me of how incredibly important ethics is in any engineering application and that one should never lose sight of the bigger picture in between the equations. Thank you for making videos.
I worked in a machine shop for a while. I was very safe and never got an injury, until I cut myself with a file... it had slipped off of the plate I was deburring and skidded across my arm. I'm usually good at telling when something is unsafe, but that left me surprised and dumbfounded.
Great video! Learning how little value stubbornness has in the face of making people feel comfortable is one of the most important part of growing up. It makes me wonder about those significantly older than I who haven't figured it out.
Oh, Vi. I found you through Khan Academy and immediately fell in love with the way you made your videos. Doodling using maths is now one of my favourite things to do, and without you I wouldn't know what the Fibonacci sequence was. Thank you.
I don't know if they do or not, but all I know is that she doesn't make videos for more subscribers; they do it for fun and to make people thin of things most people wouldn't think of. With that, they probably do read comments. They might just read them for fun once and a while, or scan through the comments for bullies. That's just my thought.
Your videos really are amazing. They're like a piece of art in themselves; I feel like I am always revealed something new, though you never explicitly say it. Amazing work.
This is one of my favourite videos of yours. I knew about risk-reward calculations and I try to be aware of how much speech impacts others but I've never seen the two concepts related to that. It's beautiful. : )
She isn't against free speech. She's just saying we should be careful what we say. The same way we shouldn't say something prejudiced because it can hurt others (and possibly come back and hurt us), we should be careful with knives. It's kind of like how I see law: it's not that we can't do it, it's that we shouldn't because A) it'll hurt people, and B) there will be repercussions that will affect you.
Wonderful and thought-provoking, Vi . . and whatever our opinions, we should always be prepared to think about them critically! Thanks. My 'cut away' learning experience involved a deep cut, a permanent scar, and slight nerve damage in my left index finger . . learning, indeed!
I like how this video shows how much research you put in to better understand modern tools. Part of the video even gives the hidden meaning that we humans can easily push our values but we realize that. I was confused on how knives were related to files until you started explaining the different uses of them. I learned how the tools we use have a connection. Yes, we should cut towards ourselves if we believe its worth it. I liked that it also had to do with free speech and that we shouldn't be limited to that principle. In no way shape or form were you against free speech even if some other comments say otherwise. How for files we have to cut away from ourselves or else we will be harmed and the file will be "injured" as well. This video inspired me to understand the risks, learn from my mistakes, and not beat myself over it. I also really enjoyed how this video tied in with your past videos, for example, the video about your opinion on the divide. It shows viewers that other videos correlate with this one and if they were confused in that video, they can watch this video and fully understand the concept better than they did before. It may seem like a simple video but if you watch it a few times, it gets deep and you'll blow your mind once you find out.
Worlds collide. Big fan of your videos and as a security analyst I do risk analysis all the time so this was a great crossover. Your observation of "The Rule is in the Tool" is brilliant and you seem to be one of the first to come up with this phrase according to a Google search. Thanks.
A mistake that results in learning doesn't mean it was not a mistake. All learning requires mistakes. It just means that mistakes are not nearly as bad as most people feel they are.
Sometimes when I'm really tired and I can't sleep, I watch your videos on autoplay until your voice puts me to sleep. I love listening to you go on about whatever mathematic topic come up next. Idk, something about it is just really soothing.
This is why it drives me nuts when people walk across intersections when things "seem clear." Having personally been hit by a truck while crossing the road, I know from direct experience that 1. Waiting 20 seconds for the light to change is such a small hardship that it seems ridiculous, B. People are actually really bad at assessing the risks of moving traffic patterns, and 3. The drawbacks of miscalculating traffic or failing to notice a vehicle in a blind spot are really, really high, and potentially life-ending. So why not take 20 seconds at the corner, push the button, and check out the colour of the sky, the progress of the trees budding, the flight of birds, or people-watch?
At first when I saw the title of the video (and then frantically started trying to get it to load quickly enough) and the first five seconds passed, I was like, "Oh, this might be boring. That's unlike Vi Hart." But now that the video is done I'm like, "Oh, Vi Hart did it again. Yay!" Keep up the good work Vi! Love your videos!
Wow, this is a neat thought on rules/highly recommended suggestions and how we value it, I like the whole thing very much especially since I write a lot and I love using these type of conflict in stories. Thanks.
Yep, totally split my entire nail in half as a kid using a knife towards myself. Learned a lesson, nail grew back, zip bang no further thoughts were had that could make me cut towards myself in the future! Make all the mistakes while you can!
just wanted to know I "met" you with the hexaflexagons, and after that I watched every video you ever made, just because I love the way you think and how you talk about it. Keep up the good work.
The last part about the vocabulary is the tricky one, because for me, at least when i interact with people i care about, using something like "differently abled" or "plus sized", for one takes the concious effort. And if one always "on the watch" with people that are close to him he starts questioning if they are really close to him that much or not. If so, how come he has to be on guard around them, and also, using this vocabulary, especially if it's encouraged by the people i'm reffering to using that vocabulary hurts my perception of them - "You can't take a guy you ate earthworms with together 20 years ago calling you fat? What are you, a baby?". If someone can't take something like that i just can't accept them as an equal and that means he has to go one way or the other. The reasoning behind not using such words is not that "it's hard hurp durp", it's because in the eyes of people like me it infantilises people in question (at least in our perception) and we just can't take them seriously if we use such words or hear them insisting on using such words.
i respect your opinion and your reasoning, its a refreshing break from the "blah blah blah free speech blah blah blah SJWs" rants you often encounter here on the internet
slendy9600 i guess that those people you're sick of just aren't as good at sitting in the empty room and reflecting at themselves, formulating and pointing out what exactly is happening in their head, as yours truly. Or that those people aren't willing to let a stranger in their head, so they give you no real reasoning at all. Either way i'm sure that people take this stance quite frequently, be it conciously or not.
+Mordewolt The great joy and relief behind your mentality though is that if someone says "wow, I am hurt by what you said" and you apologize, you will be able to keep on going. Accidentally causing harm and apologizing is not admitting to being a horrible person, so it should not be a problem.
John Kerpan no, i don''t apologise to those people, i cut all contacts with them if possible, or minimise it to a barelly essential amount. If my way of communicating causes phisical discomfort for them, then i don't want to spend time with them for any reason. I don't respect people that are more fragile than i appear, so i don't want to do any business with them, and i'm not really a sadistic type, so leasure activities are off the board too. To paraphrase - it's your responsibility to tell if you're peanut allergic, and it's my responsibility to kick you out of the peanut fest so you don't hurt yourself. And there is nothing to apologise for, for either party.
WOOOO VIHART! I always love your work. Keep uploading whenever you feel like it; it could get stale if you were ever doing it out of obligation to a schedule. Not like you need my permission or anything. :P
I actually love this so much, especially the part where you talk about how people use "freedom of speech" to hurt other people around them.. I'll never understand the thought process of someone saying something hurtful and not even seeming guilty about it.
I was literally thinking of this yesterday. For the past week I've been relishing in the freedom of chopping up my salads in my hand (and towards myself) rather than using a coping board. I was even trying to attribute probabilities on the likelihood of injury and while it seemed unlikely cutting THIS tomato, if I keep this up, I am going to hurt myself.
I dislike the expression "Always cut away from your self". What is away? Directly away? Can I cut to the left or right? How many degrees off from cutting directly at myself may I cut? Sometimes a cut toward ones self is the most controllable cut. Sometime cutting away from yourself can put you off balance, and at risk of falling with a knife. "Usually cut away from yourself, except when that is unsafe."
+Brian Shea i would say cutting away is the same as not cutting towards you, which means that you can cut in any direction - as long, as the cut, even if it fails and you make a big strike, will never hit you.
+Brian Shea When cutting, ask: if the knife slips in the direction I'm pushing it, does it end up cutting me. If "no", that qualifies as "away". If "yes", that qualifies as toward. But that's a lot of words.
Very valuable video. Good thinking and reasoning here. I'm always flabbergasted by my motorcycle friends who refuse to wear helmets just because they think it looks cool. My helmet has saved my life (Or at least, all of the skin on my face, and probably the bones in there, too). However, I do cut toward myself when need be. I liked how you put the note about learning in there, and how some things are worth it. Also, good choice in knives. Gerber is the best.
Shhh. Don't tell her about drawknives and for that matter the fact that most machinists file towards themselves to get smoother faster cuts. (Draw filing.) She's not ready.
I know I'm probably missing the point here, but maybe you could wear protective clothing (gloves, apron etc.). That way you can have the best of both worlds.
+Brandon Hall It's true that there are often multiple ways of approaching a problem like this. But that's not really relevant at all to the point she's making.
my dad always taught me to sharpen kitchen knives downwards/towards yourself, for the reason that is, kitchens are busy and bustling, it is better to cut yourself then it is to cut someone else. my dad is an eccentric tho, but I always took that advice to heart. sharpening towards myself gives me control, and yes it comes with the risk of maybe cutting myself, but on the other hand it gives me the peace of mind that I won't cut someone else.
When I was about 10 years old, a school friend was hit by a car. He wasn't wearing a helmet, and he died. If he had been wearing a helmet he might have survived. He was on foot, though. Later, when I was about 21, the wife of a good friend was in an accident and died of brain injuries. If she'd been wearing a helmet, she might have survived. She was a passenger in a car. Now if you assign a 0 cost to wearing a helmet, and a 1 cost to getting a brain injury, why don't you wear a helmet when you're on foot or in a car?
Why would you assign 0 cost to wearing a helmet. Everything cost something. You either have to "spend" the energy to find and carry your helmet everywhere out in public, or it costs space to store it somewhere. It even costs your hair and skeletal structure if you were to wear one 24/7.Now, the risk associated with not wearing a helmet in a car or on foot? Well, how likely are you to actually survive being hit by a car with/without a helmet? Slim to none either way. How MORE likely are you to survive a car crash if you were wearing helmet AND a seatbelt vs just a seatbelt? Not much more likely to survive.I have a feeling you're one of those individuals that try to rationalize not wearing safety gear (aka a seatbelt). Sorry, but if you don't wear a seatbelt then you are an idiot sir. Stop trying to justify your lack of self value and just put your seatbelt on. Geez...
Reshaos I always wear a seatbelt when I'm in a car: the cost-benefit analysis is overwhelmingly in favour of seatbelts, and it's also legally required. Vi says that you can skip the cost-benefit analysis of wearing a bike helmet if you assign a 0 cost to it. As you point out, that's not strictly true, and my point was that this would lead to the conclusion that pedestrians and motorists should also wear bike helmets. You want to address this by making the assumption that all pedestrians hit by cars die. This is clearly false. Pedestrians routinely get serious head injuries in traffic, some fatal, some not: www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/esv/esv21/09-0459.pdf ; also see the "pedestrian injury" section of www.forensicmed.co.uk/wounds/blunt-force-trauma/patterns/road-traffic-collisions/ You also claim that wearing a helmet in a car won't make you safer: if you're wearing your seatbelt, a helmet brings no incremental safety. This is also not true. See www.monash.edu/muarc/research/reports/atsb160 - enough head injuries among vehicle occupants would be prevented by bike helmets that it would even make economic sense. I live in Munich and I've calculated that on average, it would take 41 thousand years of normal cycling before I would reach a 50% likelihood that a bicycle helmet would save me from serious injury: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OMtOWA1f3LYCI3eeRsAxWEDmG0LpJitnktBerdlYQok
I don't think the video proposed pushing these values in risk vs reward considerations to absolutes, rather I thought it suggested that we as fallible humans tend to prefer to think in such terms and can be somewhat irrational when considering risk in everyday contexts (somewhat reminiscent of Dan Ariely's work at exposing how humans can be predicatively irrational perhaps). There is a high cost to wearing a helmet in situations that are not deemed socially acceptable to do so, and helmets are hot and uncomfortable and inconvenient to carry around when the law does not require one to do so. Perhaps the follow up is why there is no law to require it... and I think we all understand that to some extent.
nat4200 There was a cost-benefit analysis done for Germany, and they concluded that a helmet law would have a negative benefit, considering health, environment and safety. It makes very interesting reading: www.cycle-helmets.com/germany-helmet-law-cost-analysis-2014.pdf
@Vihart: I think you're missing a bit of message that often should precede a statement like "always cut away from yourself". That message fragment is often "Without further information and consideration..." Given no further information and an assumption of knife wielding ineptitude, the advice may be good. However there are some good reasons to cut towards oneself. A paring knife cut for one typically involves pinching food towards the knife with the thumb of the hand that is holding the knife. There are occasions when I use a file with a lathe and I turn the file around so that if the headstock catches the end of the file, it'll take the file away from me rather than shoot it at my body. I posit the following scenario: given 10 different options of which the first option is the best option 19% of the time and the other 9 options being the best option 9% of the time. While the first option will be the most often correct, it will still be wrong 81% of the time. Being "correct" more often than the other options, the first option would probably be promulgated as the "best" option as it would be easiest to describe as the best option without further information that might point to one of the other 9 options. We like our false dichotomies. They are easy to lay out and communicate. They simplify the world and save us from having to consider things too deeply. Good luck if you have children. There is a tremendous amount of simplistic statements to browbeat parents with and very little opportunity for discussion. You'll want to cut yourself. If you want to cut towards yourself, think about isolating muscle groups good at making fine motions from your gross muscle motion groups. The hands and wrists are well disposed to be making small strong motions. They can apply leverage and force in a very finely controlled manner. In contrast, the forearms and shoulders are great at big fast motions, but they are not great for fine motion. If you observe your dental hygenist, you may note that they plant the heel of their hand against your face and pull a scraper with the same fingers from that hand. This allows them to execute fine forceful motions that will not rip the scraper through your cheek should the tip of the scraper/pick pop free of your tooth. By registering the heel of your hand, wrist, or forearm of your knife hand to a thing you are cutting, you can limit the travel of the knife should the edge break free of what you are cutting and not end up stabbing yourself.
When I was younger, I forgot to wear my helmet when I was biking to go meet my friend so I went back home and got it. But when I was going back to our meeting spot (now wearing a helmet) I got hit by a car. Nowadays I find it funny that if I hadn't gone back to get my helmet, I wouldn't have been hit by a car. Oh, irony.
I have that same pocket knife that you used to cut the sharpie. Well I used to have it, I accidentally left it in North Carolina in a cabin my family rented.
I know it's a triangle, but it's so much fun pretending a sentient Dorito is cheering you on throughout the video.
Ok that's beautiful, I will always think of this from now on. Thankyou kind sir.
Actually that is Vi. Vi is a triangle, at least on paper.
bootiful
I don't like doritos so, no.
palo I like your profile picture👍
"We don't make mistakes, we just have happy accidents."
-Bob Ross
+Chrisopher Hunt What if when you went
to the er then you meet a person who gives you a thousand dollars. Sure it isnt likely but still it may happen.
If you're just painting, yeah. Not for other stuff, though.
KCreates it’s a HAPPY LITTLE ACCIDENT!
You just destroyed that for me:( i hope your happy:'(
I can definitely relate to the helmet one. I wore my helmet whenever riding my bike as a kid, and my friends teased me about it all the time. Eventually they convinced me to stop wearing it and LITERALLY THE VERY FIRST TIME I rode my bike without a helmet, I fell off and got a concussion.
They definitely felt really bad about pressuring me to take the helmet off, and one of them started always wearing helmets after that.
+PokemonTom09 That is a cool anecdote. Is it worth it, though? That is the question: was your accident worth the awareness spread for your friends? Is it worth it for someone else to be hurt for you to be aware? The literally benefited from someone else's unpleasant experience, after all...
I crossed a sidewalk with my bike and I didn’t notice a car coming and the car’s mirror hit me lucky I wasn’t hurt the worst thing that happened was my right ring finger got sprained but now I’m really cautious when crossing the street and I’m lucky because I could have died or gone into coma or like broken my arm or leg
only one of them? dumb
@@octosaurinvasion We were really young at the time, I honestly don't remember if my other friends started wearing helmets after that event. I just remember that one of them did and explicitly told me it was because of my concussion that he started doing it.
@@Ruminations09 ok good i was worried
1:23 OOH! *That* file. I was confused about what knives had to do with files (documents)
+Aykın Çakaloz Me too!
Me to lol
+Aykın Çakaloz I EVEN READ IT AS *FLIES*
+Aykın Çakaloz I had that problem with an old text adventure. How do I get out of here? all I have is this document, and the window has bars.
Jeremy Lakeman Haha xD
It's always quality over quantity with you and I really enjoy it. Thank you for another interesting video
Did anyone else read the title as "Knifes and Flies"?
i did 😂😂
+Yanfei Zhou The ultimate duel
+Yanfei Zhou no
Me lol
+Yanfei Zhou
no but i was like:
"What the heck has a COMPUTER FILE to do with a KNIFE???? On VI HARTS channel????"
I share your quandary with "always and never" rules, as I am a chemist working in the chemical industry. I am constantly surrounded by highly toxic materials that I handle on a daily basis, and must practice a lot of habits that i know keep me safe, yet they are at times annoying and intrusive. However, i'll never forget what one of my managers said at a monthly safety meeting: "Safety rules are written in blood". And it's true. Even the dumbest and most inane rules around safety are there because someone didn't follow that rule and ended up injured or dead. So when I have issues with safety rules making me jump through ALL THE HOOPS, I find it helpful to think of what kind of incident got that rule got enacted in the first place. There's always a reason, even if it's not a good one.
well if the reason is not a good one then the rule shouldn't be there. It's just that there are usually better reasons than people think.
imagine the forces that you need to whittle that sharpie. now imagine those forces, through your hand. through a major blood vessel.
As a professional knife user, I must also protest entirely to the concept of design embedded tool limitations. Tools must cover as wide an area of usefulness as possible, so that they will overlap in usefulness with other tools, and so that no implementation will fall outside of that Venn diagram, and into that grey void we know as "the impossible."
Tool use is AWAYS a calculated risk- we take it to get what we want. I think where the problem gets a bit harder is when the liberties that we take during this pursuit place _others_ at risk. Great post, thanks ;)
I think the inclusion of a safety feature is something that requires its own risk:benefit analysis. There may be some situations where a safety feature limits the functionality of the tool, but it's often worth all of the fingers and blood that it saves. On the other hand, there may be others that really get in the way but only prevent a small risk. How much does the roll cage on my UTV limit its mobility on the trail vs. how likely is it to save me from injury and/or death? For some trails I have to work on, I think it's worth it. For others, maybe not.
It's like what Doug Gwyn wrote about the operating system Unix: "Unix wasn't designed to stop you from doing stupid things, because that would also stop you from doing clever things"
@@sheepphic Unfortunately that has aged very poorly in this age where lives may be literally put at risk due to the integration of computers into medical equipment, aircraft, communications, you name it. And of course the rise of hacking, malware etc etc, where any flaws can be leveraged by the malicious to cause unbelievable damage. Of course an OS design can't be blamed for all poor programming or misuse, but the more that can be done to plug the holes at different layers of the Swiss cheese, the less likely something bad will find its way though.
Deep Ms. Hart
Deep
Deeper than that mlg coffee filter used as your profile pick dankest XD
+Dankest Elf
Your profile pic is a gnome, actually
I'm an old Runescape nerd and I remember that ridiculous sprite :9
+PowerChannel88 no the concept
+Dankest Elf ur profile pic and name make this a lot better. probably makes everything u say better
blarblablarblar Bruh, if you can't tell I'm trolling by my pic, idk what to say...
Your story about cutting yourself with a pocketknife while whittling sticks into pointier sticks really hits home for me, because I did the exact same thing when I was younger. Only differences are that I was never advised about which direction not to cut and I sliced my finger deep enough that I still have a clearly visible scar over a decade later. I'm glad you didn't hurt yourself too badly.
I love your channel. It's like watching a let's play of someone's mind wandering. Thank you! You're awesome!
This is exactly how I feel.
+Maxim Maganet It's "Watch Colorful Pictures Appear on Paper: The Game"
:D
I would pay all the money in the world just to have all your notebooks full of genius ideas and thoughts haha
I'd pay a lot of money for these notebooks! Name your price.
Same
Always cut away from yourself rule is super important, when you consider the any professional has a second rule of always use a sharp knife. Although logically you may think a dull knife is less likely to cut you. Statically in a professional sense the opposite is true as dull knifes are more likely to slip an lose control of, so having equipment that does what is needs to do is very important.
+129das
There's also the risk compensation effect: people tend to take greater risks when the perceived safety increases (like when a knife is duller).
+129das
There's also the risk compensation effect: people tend to take greater risks when the perceived safety increases (like when a knife is duller).
My thought process of any VI Hart Video.
1. Yeah, that makes sense
2. Wait....what
3. .......(silence because I don't get a single thing
4. *Mind Blown*
So glad she is doing videos again.
Man. I've always been impressed with your videos Vi, but this one just might take the crown for me. Thank you so much.
YES! YOU UPLOADED ON my birthday! Your awesome vi hart
You're*
+Cat Wizard why?
Happy birthday!
PROTIP
+Shiro Mai (Kuro) Thank you!
OMG!!!!
ITS A MIRACLE!!
ANOTHER VID IN LESS THAN A MONTH!!! THX GOD!! MY WISHES WERE HEARD!!!!
MTE (my thoughts exactly)
I'm very pleased to see that you're making videos again, even if it's just two in the now four months of this year! Hope to see more when possible. Thank you!
Nice, we even have the same pocket knife!
Me too message from a person that doesn’t exist anymore who wouldn’t get this message, while a future person with only some memories of the long gone person but very different experiences thinks this message is for them!
My father is a woodcarver and the way he taught me is almost 90% cutting towards your tumb. That's because these are very sharp small concave blades on big handles and this allows you to be very precise whereas when you cut away from yourself, in he scenarios when you want to cut off bigger pieces, you apply much more force and it can easily slip and cut your leg. (You keep the piece of wood on your lap for added stability) My only cut from woodcarvng is actually on my knee and it's a good inch long and 1cm deep so yeah, if you know what you're doing, it's actually better to always cut towards yourself.
+3NGIN33R That large cut technically came from cutting towards yourself.
+3NGIN33R I believe it depends on the tool, the piece being made, and the person doing the cutting.
If it's a kid cutting the bark off a stick, away is most definitely the best choice.
If it's an adult whittling wooden horse with a carving knife, toward would be much better for control.
If it's an adult chiseling out a high relief with a v-tool, once again away is the smart decision.
There's no definitive correct choice, but Vi-Hart's (and my) parents were wise in their rulemaking.
+hectorbector11 Also one might well argue that a 1cm cut in the top of your leg where there aren't any life threatening veins is better than a 1cm cut into your thumb which for a child is damn near hewing the whole thing off. Even if cutting a short piece that doesn't extend beyond your leg.
That was surprisingly entrigueing
hectorbector11 What I was saying is that it's better to learn how to cut rather than in which direction. And of course, not just a kid but anyone clearing the bark should cut away, not just for safety but also efficiency.
Also, I'm not sure what an v-tool is, I only know the names of the tools in my language but if it's anything like a v shaped chisel, you can't really do it any other way than cutting away. A lot of the time it's which way it goes at all rather than which way is safe.
After a lack of existential crisis after showing her how the univers will end (along with black holes and neutron stars courtesy of crash course), after showing her this, my little sister finally admitted confusion and awe! Thanks Vi Hart, for making videos that confuse 9 year olds.
+ProgrammingChicken what?
+ProgrammingChicken I'm fully aware of our ultimate demise, as individuals and a spices. It confused my sister though...
I am knife maker and sometimes I turn my file around and file toward myself. I liked this video, keep it up.
+nickwoo2 I had no idea that files had directionality until this video. The one I use almost daily doesn't seem to have a problem from it, but maybe I can use it better.
I pick it up and bring it back instead of dragging it back over the work, they will not dull as fast if you lift it up a bit.
I don't usually comment, but this video was so exceptional that it merited one. Thank you for bringing our thoughts onto another realm and making the confusing clear.
After binge watching a few of your videos, I am now having an existential crisis.
This discussion (specifically the quote "You can't put a price on life") reminds me of a case study my first year engineering profession and practice course did on the Ford Pinto. The car had a nasty design flaw where the fuel tank position didn't have enough "crush space" and in the event of a crash, the bolts on the rear axle tore the tank open which made it very prone to fires. Ford did a cost benefit analysis comparing the price of recall vs the societal cost of the injuries (where they placed a price on human life), in the end the analysis dictated that it was "cheaper to let them burn". I'm studying mechanical engineering and this video just reminded me of how incredibly important ethics is in any engineering application and that one should never lose sight of the bigger picture in between the equations. Thank you for making videos.
I watch. I say "deep". And then I scroll to comments. And the top comment says "Deep".
deep
+ayy lmao!
+PaulBunkey We need to go deeper.
+Mosco Monster A squiggle within a squiggle within a squiggle. Three layers deep good enough?
EntrancedSnow70 woah thats almost as deep as... _inception_
Delightful - To learn and think at the same time...
Always a pleasure Ms. Hart
I worked in a machine shop for a while. I was very safe and never got an injury, until I cut myself with a file... it had slipped off of the plate I was deburring and skidded across my arm. I'm usually good at telling when something is unsafe, but that left me surprised and dumbfounded.
Great video! Learning how little value stubbornness has in the face of making people feel comfortable is one of the most important part of growing up. It makes me wonder about those significantly older than I who haven't figured it out.
theodd1sout will be happy to see you uploaded a video
to1o only disagrees on the front that pi is pretty dang neat
you have reinvigorated my love for math throughout the last year, as I watched everything you have put out. thank you.
Oh, Vi. I found you through Khan Academy and immediately fell in love with the way you made your videos. Doodling using maths is now one of my favourite things to do, and without you I wouldn't know what the Fibonacci sequence was. Thank you.
Was it like a video on there
derpypro gamer
Her old videos on doodling in math are on there!
As always, elegant and well-timed. Much Gratitude.
Out if curiosity alone, it doesn't affect me much either way, do you read your comments? And if so, all of them or just a scattered few?
curie-osity?
+Sergio Jaume I highly appreciate that pun. Thank you very much for that.
I don't know if they do or not, but all I know is that she doesn't make videos for more subscribers; they do it for fun and to make people thin of things most people wouldn't think of. With that, they probably do read comments. They might just read them for fun once and a while, or scan through the comments for bullies. That's just my thought.
Why do you say 'they' or 'it'?
Tophat Doge
I'm guessing you've never heard of the pronoun game. It's weird, but it makes scene if you know what your talking about.
Your videos really are amazing. They're like a piece of art in themselves; I feel like I am always revealed something new, though you never explicitly say it. Amazing work.
my math teacher showed us one of your videos in class the other day and now im subbed :0
that's awesome tbh
KayPlays ikr
+Jorden Woxland Same, only I learnt about her about a few weeks later from theodd1sout comic
Arthur Clery yeah i saw her there too. we were learning about Pythagoras and them i saw the odd1scout talk about one of her videos.
This is one of my favourite videos of yours. I knew about risk-reward calculations and I try to be aware of how much speech impacts others but I've never seen the two concepts related to that. It's beautiful. : )
She isn't against free speech. She's just saying we should be careful what we say. The same way we shouldn't say something prejudiced because it can hurt others (and possibly come back and hurt us), we should be careful with knives. It's kind of like how I see law: it's not that we can't do it, it's that we shouldn't because A) it'll hurt people, and B) there will be repercussions that will affect you.
Well, in her new video she literally is against freedom of speech xd
I'm so glad hot updated vi! you're one of my favorite channels. I'm not usually one for math, but you make it pretty fun!
Your sparse uploading triggers rejoices from your fans. You and CGP Grey are the only two who can really pull this off.
+Joseph Williams (RadiantRaichu) it's so sad but it's so very true
Vi Hart, I'm so glad that you're still uploading, you are still one of my favourite youtubers... Even though I started watching you YEARS ago.
Is it Pi day already?
Yeah 3.14 every year
You're videos are always so deep. Jeebers.
I love them.
its been so long since your last video, yay! x3 this was really deep o _o..... and awesome YAY! 😂
Wonderful and thought-provoking, Vi . . and whatever our opinions, we should always be prepared to think about them critically! Thanks. My 'cut away' learning experience involved a deep cut, a permanent scar, and slight nerve damage in my left index finger . . learning, indeed!
Oh god, what you say about non-pc words is soooo true
I like how this video shows how much research you put in to better understand modern tools. Part of the video even gives the hidden meaning that we humans can easily push our values but we realize that. I was confused on how knives were related to files until you started explaining the different uses of them. I learned how the tools we use have a connection. Yes, we should cut towards ourselves if we believe its worth it. I liked that it also had to do with free speech and that we shouldn't be limited to that principle. In no way shape or form were you against free speech even if some other comments say otherwise. How for files we have to cut away from ourselves or else we will be harmed and the file will be "injured" as well. This video inspired me to understand the risks, learn from my mistakes, and not beat myself over it. I also really enjoyed how this video tied in with your past videos, for example, the video about your opinion on the divide. It shows viewers that other videos correlate with this one and if they were confused in that video, they can watch this video and fully understand the concept better than they did before. It may seem like a simple video but if you watch it a few times, it gets deep and you'll blow your mind once you find out.
A Wild Vihart appears ! It's super effective !
Worlds collide. Big fan of your videos and as a security analyst I do risk analysis all the time so this was a great crossover. Your observation of "The Rule is in the Tool" is brilliant and you seem to be one of the first to come up with this phrase according to a Google search. Thanks.
I mean, you cut away from yourself because it's much easier to cut away from yourself. You can put power into your arm.
:) thanks! I like the expansion of the thought at the end to look at how we communicate with each other. And beautifully done, as always!
A mistake that results in learning doesn't mean it was not a mistake. All learning requires mistakes. It just means that mistakes are not nearly as bad as most people feel they are.
Sometimes when I'm really tired and I can't sleep, I watch your videos on autoplay until your voice puts me to sleep. I love listening to you go on about whatever mathematic topic come up next. Idk, something about it is just really soothing.
This is why it drives me nuts when people walk across intersections when things "seem clear." Having personally been hit by a truck while crossing the road, I know from direct experience that 1. Waiting 20 seconds for the light to change is such a small hardship that it seems ridiculous, B. People are actually really bad at assessing the risks of moving traffic patterns, and 3. The drawbacks of miscalculating traffic or failing to notice a vehicle in a blind spot are really, really high, and potentially life-ending. So why not take 20 seconds at the corner, push the button, and check out the colour of the sky, the progress of the trees budding, the flight of birds, or people-watch?
well its only if you hold the file by the handle. sometimes i hold both ends and go side to side.
I see a parallel between this video and the conversations we should have about safer sex.
At first when I saw the title of the video (and then frantically started trying to get it to load quickly enough) and the first five seconds passed, I was like, "Oh, this might be boring. That's unlike Vi Hart." But now that the video is done I'm like, "Oh, Vi Hart did it again. Yay!" Keep up the good work Vi! Love your videos!
It's always a good day when you upload (°♡°)
Wow, this is a neat thought on rules/highly recommended suggestions and how we value it, I like the whole thing very much especially since I write a lot and I love using these type of conflict in stories. Thanks.
Wait it is it Pi day already?
+Ale Eros fail
+Ale Eros whoosh
I love the syntactic ambiguity in the video description.
I love you, Vi Hart.
Always love watching your videos! Your style is so unique and always makes it more interesting (since I'm more of a visual learner)
Very nice analogy.
+Ronald Johnson Jesus Christ chill out dude lmao
+Ronald Johnson A Wild Troll Appears!
The Shrekinator And I have just deleted that troll's comment. :)
+Elena W People are crazy smh
Ronan Hart I know right. I didn't feeling like dealing with that so I just blocked him.
Yep, totally split my entire nail in half as a kid using a knife towards myself. Learned a lesson, nail grew back, zip bang no further thoughts were had that could make me cut towards myself in the future!
Make all the mistakes while you can!
But files can be used in both directions...
Left and right...
just wanted to know I "met" you with the hexaflexagons, and after that I watched every video you ever made, just because I love the way you think and how you talk about it. Keep up the good work.
I just came from reading an article about pronouns and gender identity, and this video resonates with that article very well.
As a knife enthusiast and occasional risk taker, I really appreciated this video and the many parallels
The last part about the vocabulary is the tricky one, because for me, at least when i interact with people i care about, using something like "differently abled" or "plus sized", for one takes the concious effort. And if one always "on the watch" with people that are close to him he starts questioning if they are really close to him that much or not. If so, how come he has to be on guard around them, and also, using this vocabulary, especially if it's encouraged by the people i'm reffering to using that vocabulary hurts my perception of them - "You can't take a guy you ate earthworms with together 20 years ago calling you fat? What are you, a baby?". If someone can't take something like that i just can't accept them as an equal and that means he has to go one way or the other.
The reasoning behind not using such words is not that "it's hard hurp durp", it's because in the eyes of people like me it infantilises people in question (at least in our perception) and we just can't take them seriously if we use such words or hear them insisting on using such words.
i respect your opinion and your reasoning, its a refreshing break from the "blah blah blah free speech blah blah blah SJWs" rants you often encounter here on the internet
slendy9600 i guess that those people you're sick of just aren't as good at sitting in the empty room and reflecting at themselves, formulating and pointing out what exactly is happening in their head, as yours truly. Or that those people aren't willing to let a stranger in their head, so they give you no real reasoning at all. Either way i'm sure that people take this stance quite frequently, be it conciously or not.
+Mordewolt The great joy and relief behind your mentality though is that if someone says "wow, I am hurt by what you said" and you apologize, you will be able to keep on going.
Accidentally causing harm and apologizing is not admitting to being a horrible person, so it should not be a problem.
John Kerpan no, i don''t apologise to those people, i cut all contacts with them if possible, or minimise it to a barelly essential amount. If my way of communicating causes phisical discomfort for them, then i don't want to spend time with them for any reason. I don't respect people that are more fragile than i appear, so i don't want to do any business with them, and i'm not really a sadistic type, so leasure activities are off the board too.
To paraphrase - it's your responsibility to tell if you're peanut allergic, and it's my responsibility to kick you out of the peanut fest so you don't hurt yourself. And there is nothing to apologise for, for either party.
I've been subscribed for so long, still love watching these!
WOOOO VIHART! I always love your work. Keep uploading whenever you feel like it; it could get stale if you were ever doing it out of obligation to a schedule. Not like you need my permission or anything. :P
I actually love this so much, especially the part where you talk about how people use "freedom of speech" to hurt other people around them.. I'll never understand the thought process of someone saying something hurtful and not even seeming guilty about it.
See you again in 5 months
26 days
I was literally thinking of this yesterday. For the past week I've been relishing in the freedom of chopping up my salads in my hand (and towards myself) rather than using a coping board. I was even trying to attribute probabilities on the likelihood of injury and while it seemed unlikely cutting THIS tomato, if I keep this up, I am going to hurt myself.
I dislike the expression "Always cut away from your self".
What is away?
Directly away?
Can I cut to the left or right?
How many degrees off from cutting directly at myself may I cut?
Sometimes a cut toward ones self is the most controllable cut.
Sometime cutting away from yourself can put you off balance, and at risk of falling with a knife.
"Usually cut away from yourself, except when that is unsafe."
+Brian Shea
i would say cutting away is the same as not cutting towards you, which means that you can cut in any direction - as long, as the cut, even if it fails and you make a big strike, will never hit you.
+Brian Shea the shape of your body and how far away the cut takes place from it determines if the cut is away or towards.
+Brian Shea When cutting, ask: if the knife slips in the direction I'm pushing it, does it end up cutting me. If "no", that qualifies as "away". If "yes", that qualifies as toward.
But that's a lot of words.
+Brian Shea I don't think questions that challenge our perception of the world are your strong point.
Thank you Vi for helping to give us Auri!
So close to the pi day video? A new video?
what is this alternate dimension i've stepped into
Very valuable video. Good thinking and reasoning here. I'm always flabbergasted by my motorcycle friends who refuse to wear helmets just because they think it looks cool. My helmet has saved my life (Or at least, all of the skin on my face, and probably the bones in there, too). However, I do cut toward myself when need be. I liked how you put the note about learning in there, and how some things are worth it.
Also, good choice in knives. Gerber is the best.
But couldn't you just turn the stick around the other way?
Good Lord...
You're a genius.
oooooooooh my gooooooood
It's easier to do it with finer detail when cutting towards yourself. It's a lot more precise
+Ashley_ Archer_ I also sometimes cut sideways.
Glad to see another video! You inspired me to pursue a degree in mathematics at my university
Wow! I hope that works out well for you!
the first time i cut towards myself i ended up staining my work red so
Ridiculously relevant in so many ways. Thanks for the stimulating video!
Wow, I read the title as "On Knives and Flies," and was disappointed when the video ended without flies.
I read it as "On knives and fires". That would have been fun.
I did enjoy the thought you were having :)
I wish more people had those sorts of thoughts!
Shhh. Don't tell her about drawknives and for that matter the fact that most machinists file towards themselves to get smoother faster cuts. (Draw filing.) She's not ready.
GunFun ZS A valid point, I wasn’t going to say anything though. I like ViHarts analysis of things in general.
Or paring cuts in general. Cutting with a blade towards yourself typically has much more control in exchange for that added risk.
Props for the Gerber. I have a Gator II and an older Gator! Both made in good ol Orgeon :)
Vihart is where math and philosophy collide
amazing as always vi, seeing you've uploaded really makes my day :)
I know I'm probably missing the point here, but maybe you could wear protective clothing (gloves, apron etc.). That way you can have the best of both worlds.
*gasp* You're right!
You missed the point completely!
+Brandon Hall Stop cuts let you cut toward yourself as well. Analogies can only take you so far.
+Brandon Hall It's true that there are often multiple ways of approaching a problem like this. But that's not really relevant at all to the point she's making.
These thoughts of yours are just amazing!
Well. This pi day came fast.
my dad always taught me to sharpen kitchen knives downwards/towards yourself, for the reason that is, kitchens are busy and bustling, it is better to cut yourself then it is to cut someone else. my dad is an eccentric tho, but I always took that advice to heart. sharpening towards myself gives me control, and yes it comes with the risk of maybe cutting myself, but on the other hand it gives me the peace of mind that I won't cut someone else.
When I was about 10 years old, a school friend was hit by a car. He wasn't wearing a helmet, and he died. If he had been wearing a helmet he might have survived. He was on foot, though.
Later, when I was about 21, the wife of a good friend was in an accident and died of brain injuries. If she'd been wearing a helmet, she might have survived. She was a passenger in a car.
Now if you assign a 0 cost to wearing a helmet, and a 1 cost to getting a brain injury, why don't you wear a helmet when you're on foot or in a car?
Why would you assign 0 cost to wearing a helmet. Everything cost something. You either have to "spend" the energy to find and carry your helmet everywhere out in public, or it costs space to store it somewhere. It even costs your hair and skeletal structure if you were to wear one 24/7.Now, the risk associated with not wearing a helmet in a car or on foot? Well, how likely are you to actually survive being hit by a car with/without a helmet? Slim to none either way. How MORE likely are you to survive a car crash if you were wearing helmet AND a seatbelt vs just a seatbelt? Not much more likely to survive.I have a feeling you're one of those individuals that try to rationalize not wearing safety gear (aka a seatbelt). Sorry, but if you don't wear a seatbelt then you are an idiot sir. Stop trying to justify your lack of self value and just put your seatbelt on. Geez...
Reshaos I always wear a seatbelt when I'm in a car: the cost-benefit analysis is overwhelmingly in favour of seatbelts, and it's also legally required.
Vi says that you can skip the cost-benefit analysis of wearing a bike helmet if you assign a 0 cost to it. As you point out, that's not strictly true, and my point was that this would lead to the conclusion that pedestrians and motorists should also wear bike helmets.
You want to address this by making the assumption that all pedestrians hit by cars die. This is clearly false. Pedestrians routinely get serious head injuries in traffic, some fatal, some not: www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/esv/esv21/09-0459.pdf ; also see the "pedestrian injury" section of www.forensicmed.co.uk/wounds/blunt-force-trauma/patterns/road-traffic-collisions/
You also claim that wearing a helmet in a car won't make you safer: if you're wearing your seatbelt, a helmet brings no incremental safety. This is also not true. See www.monash.edu/muarc/research/reports/atsb160 - enough head injuries among vehicle occupants would be prevented by bike helmets that it would even make economic sense.
I live in Munich and I've calculated that on average, it would take 41 thousand years of normal cycling before I would reach a 50% likelihood that a bicycle helmet would save me from serious injury: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OMtOWA1f3LYCI3eeRsAxWEDmG0LpJitnktBerdlYQok
I always wear a belt when in public. Am I safe from car accident ?
I don't think the video proposed pushing these values in risk vs reward considerations to absolutes, rather I thought it suggested that we as fallible humans tend to prefer to think in such terms and can be somewhat irrational when considering risk in everyday contexts (somewhat reminiscent of Dan Ariely's work at exposing how humans can be predicatively irrational perhaps).
There is a high cost to wearing a helmet in situations that are not deemed socially acceptable to do so, and helmets are hot and uncomfortable and inconvenient to carry around when the law does not require one to do so.
Perhaps the follow up is why there is no law to require it... and I think we all understand that to some extent.
nat4200 There was a cost-benefit analysis done for Germany, and they concluded that a helmet law would have a negative benefit, considering health, environment and safety. It makes very interesting reading: www.cycle-helmets.com/germany-helmet-law-cost-analysis-2014.pdf
@Vihart: I think you're missing a bit of message that often should precede a statement like "always cut away from yourself". That message fragment is often "Without further information and consideration..."
Given no further information and an assumption of knife wielding ineptitude, the advice may be good. However there are some good reasons to cut towards oneself. A paring knife cut for one typically involves pinching food towards the knife with the thumb of the hand that is holding the knife. There are occasions when I use a file with a lathe and I turn the file around so that if the headstock catches the end of the file, it'll take the file away from me rather than shoot it at my body.
I posit the following scenario: given 10 different options of which the first option is the best option 19% of the time and the other 9 options being the best option 9% of the time. While the first option will be the most often correct, it will still be wrong 81% of the time. Being "correct" more often than the other options, the first option would probably be promulgated as the "best" option as it would be easiest to describe as the best option without further information that might point to one of the other 9 options.
We like our false dichotomies. They are easy to lay out and communicate. They simplify the world and save us from having to consider things too deeply. Good luck if you have children. There is a tremendous amount of simplistic statements to browbeat parents with and very little opportunity for discussion. You'll want to cut yourself.
If you want to cut towards yourself, think about isolating muscle groups good at making fine motions from your gross muscle motion groups. The hands and wrists are well disposed to be making small strong motions. They can apply leverage and force in a very finely controlled manner. In contrast, the forearms and shoulders are great at big fast motions, but they are not great for fine motion. If you observe your dental hygenist, you may note that they plant the heel of their hand against your face and pull a scraper with the same fingers from that hand. This allows them to execute fine forceful motions that will not rip the scraper through your cheek should the tip of the scraper/pick pop free of your tooth. By registering the heel of your hand, wrist, or forearm of your knife hand to a thing you are cutting, you can limit the travel of the knife should the edge break free of what you are cutting and not end up stabbing yourself.
When I was younger, I forgot to wear my helmet when I was biking to go meet my friend so I went back home and got it. But when I was going back to our meeting spot (now wearing a helmet) I got hit by a car. Nowadays I find it funny that if I hadn't gone back to get my helmet, I wouldn't have been hit by a car. Oh, irony.
I have that same pocket knife that you used to cut the sharpie. Well I used to have it, I accidentally left it in North Carolina in a cabin my family rented.
I read that as "flies" for some reason. :(
XD you said ":(" but your profile picture is ":)"
Shadow Bat I know. It sometimes makes me seem happy... :P
Nice little Gerber knife! :-)
I carried one just like it for nearly ten years.