[0] https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/08/ballp...
We were also forced to use it in German elementary school and I remember very well that my dad went to the dean (successfully) demanding that I am allowed to write with something else and abandon cursive training. Thanks again dad!
> Although it is hard to pinpoint why Arabic is sinistroverse, it has been theorized that before the papermaking process emerged in China, the Arabs used chisels to engrave the ideas and concepts they wished to manifest on stones. Due to its longevity, stone was preferred over leaves, skin, bones and shells. Considering most of the “writers” [and individuals in general] were right-handed, they would use their right hand to hold [and carve with] the chisel and the left hand to hold a hammer. Such direction is more natural because it involves an outward motion and is, therefore, easier to perform from a motor point of view. A left-to-right motion would have been counterintuitive, especially with the risk of personal injury involved.[1]
However, as another comment mentioned there are techniques that solve the smearing and awkward hand-position by rotating the paper. I would not be surprised if those are taught more widely for Arabic as 90% instead of 10% of writers face that problem.
[1] https://www.pangeanic.com/knowledge_center/arabic-right-to-l...
Think of it as a nail: if you need to hammer in a nail in exactly the right place, you put the nail into exact position holding it with a left hand, then strike it with force using hammer in the right hand. And if you ever did this you know that the tricky part is hitting the nail the right way, so you don't bend it.
If you hold the hammer in the right and the chisel in the left, you swing the hammer from the right to the left with the chisel tilted to the right. Thus the natural writing direction (outward from the swing) would be right to left. Swinging your hammer from the right and moving to the left would mean writing in the opposite direction of the force used to write single letters.
So, if the hammer is in the right hand and chisel in the left means a right-to-left motion and makes a left-to-right motion counterintuitive.
So any hypothesis about the origin of the right-to-left direction must discuss only how the tools were used for the Egyptian hieratic (written with brushes) and hieroglyphic (carved with chisels) writing systems.
Maybe it was easier to carve hieroglyphs in that direction, but I am not aware of anyone testing this hypothesis in practice.
I've never seen anyone else do that, but it certainly worked. Though I remember wondering why not rotate it the other way, so 'down' becomes left and hand wouldn't pass over the previous line either.
However, I guess the problem is that it basically means you have to learn writing the letters in a completely different way and most 6 year olds will not be able to come up with that themselves.
Edit:
> Left-to-right alphabets can be written smudge-free and in proper "forward slant" with the left hand if the paper is turned 1⁄4 turn clockwise (90 degrees to the right), and the left hand is drawn toward the body on forward strokes, and left to right on upward strokes (as expressed in directionality of the text). It is also possible to do calligraphy in this posture with the left hand, but using right-handed pen nibs.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bias_against_left-handed_peo...
I, although also left-handed, never wrote like that, I did the "wrist-bending" instead.
Edit: this also makes me wonder how the hell Ben Yehuda revived Hebrew without ballpoint pens.
As a left handed person, I'd recommend you give it a go for a few months, I think you'll find it a good bit harder than you might think - although you're probably not handwriting pages of text all day anymore, so whether it's a fair comparison I don't know.
I certainly found it quite tortuous to be forced to do things with my less (forgive the pun) dextrous hand: it takes constant conscious effort, like a wasteful background process. And that's not to mention the psychological effect of, as a child, being scolded because the most comfortable & natural way of doing something is "wrong".
Edit: Wikipedia has an interesting section on other consequences of forced conversion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bias_against_left-handed_peopl...
It will write smooth dark lines just the right thicknes without blobbing or cutting out, and is the most effortless pen to write with.
But yes, it does write at a higher angle than a fountain pen. I had a fountain pen years and years ago, and it was something you had to want to use. I can't help but think of it like vinyl records, straight razors and film cameras.
Thanks for mentioning this
I am currently on the lookout for new pen to make my standard usage pen.
My prime requirement is that it should be 1.0mm, or at a minimal 0.7mm, since I love the thickness. Secondary requirement is that it should be smooth.
I bought Baoke gel from Amazon and while I loved it a lot, was greatly disappointed to find it was of Chinese make.
Am now searching for something that’s of non-Chinese origin. So far, I have zeroed in on Uni-ball impact 1.0mm gel pen, and am shortlisting their 0.7mm gel pens as well. I would also give uni-ball 1.0mm and 0.7mm ballpoint pens a try as well in case I feel gel pens get used up faster, since always carrying a backup refill can be an inconvenience.Also, TCO with gel pens is always more than ballpoint pens.
Does anyone have any suggestions in mind?
Please proffer
May I ask why, as it is not among your requirements?
> Am now searching for something that’s of non-Chinese origin
Any specific reasons?
[0] https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2020/03/05/china-move...
I am with you in wanting to contribute to ending slavery, and other race based methods of oppression. Certainly I do not want my consumer dollars to support oppression.
With respect to the subject of this article, is a China pen boycott an effective way to protest treatment of the Uyghurs?
The Forbes article you link to says "According to a new report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a non-partisan think tank, China’s been accused of forcing Uyghur Muslims to work at factories that produce goods for well-known global companies including Apple, Nike, BMW, Samsung, Sony and Volkswagen."
Shouldn't we be boycotting those companies which knowingly benefit from the oppression? I imagine you would say yes, and practice such a boycott, aided by some investigation of which companies are knowing beneficiaries.
How about the Australian government, currently run by the party in power that is supported by the "think tank" that is the source of your Forbes article's information about the Uyghurs?
Australia was one of only two nations to vote against a Jordanian draft resolution designed to hasten a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. Palestinians suffer a different but equally dismal fate to Uyghurs. They lose the right to earn an income when Israeli soldiers destroy olive farms that have been in their families for generations, and lack alternative employment because the Israeli occupiers deny them freedom of movement and freedom of importation of goods required for industry.
Should we be boycotting Australian made pens too?
I would rather do something than nothing, and if I can try to avoid companies which have suspect supply chains, than why shouldn't I?
I think you should avoid suspect supply chains. How could you read my comment any other way?
https://us.bic.com/en_us/bic-velocity-bold-retractable-ball-...
Just looked them up on Amazon and 1.6mm looks awesome!
1 week?
Gobsmackingly good!! :)
https://us.bic.com/en_us/bic-atlantis-bold-retractable-ball-...
They are super classy and IMO great value for money. However they do have one problem, which may or may not affect you. The cap doesn't like to stay put on the back of the pen during robust use, e.g. sketching. This happens more with the silver model than with the black model for some reason.
For me it wasn't a show stopper, it just means I use different pens for bar sketching or, if I really want/need to use the Tombow, I remember to pocket the cap before I get going.
I'm also a big fan of the Energel though, just today I was marveling at how thin and precise its 0.5mm line is.
If you're into the Uni-Ball look I recommend trying the Eye, which you can get in Fine or Micro or Needle. I guess in the US it's called the Vision?[1] Might be too thin for you and the aesthetics aren't for everyone but the Micro is my go-to sketching-and-writing pen for when I'm out and about and might lose it. Works much better than the Tombow on toothy papers, like proper artist's drawing paper. They fit very nicely into many spiral bindings too.
Good luck with your search!
[0]: https://www.jetpens.com/Tombow-Zoom-505-META-Liquid-Ink-Roll...
Perhaps make a simple humidor? Or solvent-idor?
>>simple humidor? Or solvent-idor?
Does it imply we make our own ink? Did not follow. Kindly elucidate.
When you first open these pins they have a small ball stuck on the end of them to prevent the pen from drying out on the shelf. If you could create a case that maintained an atmosphere that prevented evaporation of the volatiles it would keep the pen from drying out.
A 'humidor' keeps cigars from drying out by using a moisture adsorber to keep humidity levels relatively constant in the box. So same principle but applied to pens.
It's 0.3 mm though, but a rollerball so it leaves a more saturated and wider writing trail than a ballpoint pen.
...was the name not a giveaway? That's like complaining that Huawei devices are made in China.
Later on when the product arrived, I wished to check if I could order refills in bulk from their website. Upon visiting their website, realization dawned upon me that it’s Chinese.
And in my perspective, it’s unfair to compare Baoke to Huawei. The latter is in the news since months now, and has become synonymous with nefarious snooping activities of the Chinese, in stark contrast to the former which is a pen maker.
[0] https://www.amazon.com/Baoke-Rollerball-1-0mm-Medium-PC1848/...
Sure, Huawei has been in the news for months. But Baoke is still a company whose name is in Chinese. We're not talking "Tencent" here.
Then again, if you were able to recognize whether a word was or wasn't Chinese, it's possible you'd feel differently about the moral taint of interacting with Chinese people.
Does not mean every non-Chinese person should recognize it's a Chinese word. What's your point?
>>if you were able to recognize whether a word was or wasn't Chinese, it's possible you'd feel differently about the moral taint of interacting with Chinese people.
Considering the misery they have caused to the world and Uyghurs, I would still feel all the same.
From here onwards I am going to use "CCP", so that there's no scope for confusion about being acrimonious towards the Chinese people or their glorious culture.
It's a great civilization, rich in its heritage, but Mao has made things go south.
Not really; the boycott of Chinese goods is very much targeted at Chinese people and not so much the Chinese government.
Note that godelmachine hasn't made a criticism of the CCP at all; he's criticizing a pen company for being Chinese. On the assumption that that's not really what godelmachine thinks is wrong with Baoke, how would they respond to make him feel better about interacting with them?
1.0 is too blobbly
0.5 is too scratchy
0.7 is just right
(imo)
I am a person who needs 0.7mm at the minimal.
So I dropped the idea, bought 2 Lamy Safari fountain pens to rotate when one goes empty, 1 pot of Diamine ink, 1 blunt-tipped syringe to refill and never had to think about this topic again :)
I can get used to any of fountain pens pretty quickly, even the worst and the cheapest ones. The advantage of growing up using hand-me downs during school, is that you learn tricks. Here is one, for the bad fountain pens, I slant it to "my angle" of writing and sand it (very gently) against either a very fine stone/rock or go a carpenter's shed and sand it against their finest sandpaper.
I have been trying to teach my daughter to write more, especially with fountain pens but she seems to not like it so much yet. She does like having few around -- perhaps seeing me line up my pens nicely on my table inspires her.
1. https://www.amazon.com/Muji-2724644690738-MUJI-Aluminum-Foun...
There are forms that require you to use a ballpoint pen for that reason.
I cannot use a cheap stick ballpoint pen. My writing looks bad, my hand cramps up, I don’t know why that is.
Nowadays I use gel pens, best of both worlds. I definitely agree that ballpoint pens are hard on the wrists.
I do like the feel of writing with a fountain pen but never used one until I was an adult. I still prefer pencil for note-taking and rough draft writing.
I also don't see much appeal in fancy, expensive pens. The cheapest ones here are about €5 from a supermarket, so something for €15-20 is usually decent.
I've mostly switched over to Staedtler Triplus fineliners for general writing - they're much easier on my hands/wrists[1], but retain the convenience of ballpoints.
[1] I have a joint disorder, and writing more than a couple of lines with most ballpoints will make my fingers and/or wrists hurt. I can write for 20-30 minutes with the fineliners before they trigger the same issue.
They go for around $2 each.
If you want to feel fancier, the Pilot Metropolitan uses the same nib (in fact, since they don't sell replacements, you end up buying a pack of Varsities if you need to replace the nib).
Most of my favorite pens at the moment are uniball, or take the same refill size and I’ve converted them. Somewhere I have a collapsing fountain pen but I had to be careful of the type of paper and I let it dry up at some point, got it working again, and forgot about it because I found another collapsing pen I could shoehorn the uniball gel into (by swapping the spring)
Fountain pen teaches to not press on the paper and keep correct angle while you write. When you don't need to press the pen you don't need to have a tight grip on it and it allows for relaxed grip.
Once you learned to have a tight grip on your writing instrument you transfer it to other instruments. So if you've learned incorrectly with ballpoint pen, you will have hard time figuring out what the fuss about fountain pens is all about.
That's why my kid who is currently actively learning writing is writing with fountain pen exclusively until he learns relaxed grip and good posture while writing. I assume then it won't matter much what he is going to write with.
Your wrist/elbows etc are relatively weak. See tennis elbow, etc.
The other issue is that you end up writing 4-6hrs a day in school 5days a week, wheras the gym is something like, maybe 20 minutes per muscle group? depending. And that doesn't tend to be more than 3-4x a week.
I used to weightlift with a much lighter ex. The one thing I noticed was that even tho I could lift substantially more, our recovery rate was basically the same. So I'd end up with a lot more nagging injuries over time if I didn't properly take care of myself.
There are ways to hold a pen or pencil that will fuck you up in the long run for sure, and most people hold one in these ways. I didn't learn proper form until I was in my twenties, via lore passed on from master animators I was working under. I've since seen the same knowledge in places like "old penmanship manuals" but it sure was not a thing I was taught as a kid learning to write.
Fountain pens, you kinda have to learn decent form to use. A Bic? You can write with any kind of grip, even one that looks like you tied your fingers in a knot around it.
However, I don't think the advice was ever repeated.
Hint for lefties: move the paper around until it is at an angle that doesn't cramp your wrist.
For some reason everyone's instinct is to align the paper with the desk, and then contort themselves around it.
Writing and typing is continuous, repetitive strain with no recovery. That's the killer.
The muscles you use to move around are called skeletal muscles. One of the ways they get stronger is through a process where you exercise and use them, and this causes damage to the muscles (microtears), and the body responds to these microtears by rebuilding the muscles stronger. This is why you need a recovery period when strength training... the strength training is actually damaging your body, and your body becomes stronger after recovery.
It's also why you don't want to overtrain. Too much training and you get too much damage to your body, and you won't be stronger afterwards.
With enough overtraining, damaged muscles will die off, releasing cell contents into your bloodstream and causing rhabdomyolysis, which is quite serious, but fairly rare.
> The muscles you use to move around are called skeletal muscles.
To be more explicit, you have three types of muscle cells: skeletal muscle, smooth muscle, and cardiac muscle. Guess what that last type is used for.
The heart's workload is unlike anything else, and it is made of special-purpose materials dedicated solely to its unique role.
> The type of muscles in your heart are quite different from the types of muscle in your hands.
Yes, but cardio doesn't solely use cardiac muscle.
What I was trying to get at was that when doing cardio, you are using the muscles in your legs and/or upper body, albeit at a lower intensity than when strength training. GP seemed to be implying that because writing is a continuous, repetitive strain, that it is a purely degradative action. But my point was that cardio can be described in the same way and has clear benefits for muscle health.
Therefore, my question was really whether the problem is the fact that writing is done for long periods with little recovery or more to do with people holding their pens in a weird way, or something. Put more generally, an issue of form.
Cardio doesn’t solely use cardio muscle, true, but your cardiovascular system is what you are targeting with the exercise and it does not need a recovery period, unlike other parts of your body you would exercise.
You can do intense cardio every single day, or at least nearly every day, because the cardiovascular system works differently from your skeletal muscles. You should not do an intense deadlift session every day, because your skeletal muscles need time to heal.
So I would in general not try to draw many comparisons between cardiovascular exercise and other types of exercise.
It has mixed benefits for the rest of your body. You'll improve your muscle tone a bit through running or cycling or swimming, but repetitive strain injuries are also a risk.
For most people, the benefits of cardio far outweigh the downsides, but on balance it's not necessarily good for your joints and ligaments.
Hard labor is continuous cardio. Hard labor isn't healthy. Athletes have specific training regiments with up times and recovery times.
If I go on a 60 mile bike ride, I need at least a few days downtime to recover. If I'm biking 20-30 miles, I'll do that at most every other day. And if I lift weights, I'll alternate upper body and lower body days. And if I'm doing basic calisthenics and stretching, I can do that every day.
(Not that I do any of those anymore, at my age)
It isn't a short-term issue: Comic artists often work long days (contract work) and work until their arm doesn't function well anymore (often decades before retirement age). Writing (and drawing) can produce a number of repetitive strain injuries (hand, wrist, elbow and shoulder). You can increase your tolerance if you are healthy, but it still is going to lead to injuries over time and you are better off taking more breaks than you think you need and learning not to press as hard as people are prone to do. You do "improve", but the improvement isn't really in strength but fine motor control and motion and things like that (especially with drawing).
https://schneiderpen.com/en_us/cartridge-rollerballs/easy-wh...
There was also a whole thing about rich vs poor in the classroom - the ones who still struggled with a leaking pen vs the one who always brought the fanciest ones. I went to public school, so I could see this right before my eyes. We did have school uniforms, but the pen and the lunch box were the only ones for the rich kids to show off.
Technology aside, the cheap and functional ballpoint pen did change the life in subtle ways for so many kids.
A few years ago I hit the front page of Reddit with my ballpoint writing: https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/969vta/i_practice_alp...