I appreciate the need for a phrase or concept to refer to instances when the “easier” thing is harder for you than the “hard” thing, so thank you for pointing me towards that idea. It reminds me of mathematicians who have gotten remarkably bad at arithmetic because it simply doesn’t come up in their studies.
That said, it’s difficult for me to disentangle the phrase “I don’t know how to count that low” from its somewhat elitist origins. It seems to bring the unworthiness of the task into focus instead of the person’s competence at the task. Indeed, the google engineers in the story seem to remark upon their distance from the task as a point of pride in your story, that the numbers are so low that bothering to count them or even knowing how to count them is a mark of low status. Perhaps the ego-saving of looking down on the task is part of the appeal? Or perhaps I am reading too much into the Google story. Something like “I’ve forgotten how to walk” appeals much more to me since it emphasizes my present lack of skills.
I appreciate the need for a phrase or concept to refer to instances when the “easier” thing is harder for you than the “hard” thing, so thank you for pointing me towards that idea. It reminds me of mathematicians who have gotten remarkably bad at arithmetic because it simply doesn’t come up in their studies.
That said, it’s difficult for me to disentangle the phrase “I don’t know how to count that low” from its somewhat elitist origins. It seems to bring the unworthiness of the task into focus instead of the person’s competence at the task. Indeed, the google engineers in the story seem to remark upon their distance from the task as a point of pride in your story, that the numbers are so low that bothering to count them or even knowing how to count them is a mark of low status. Perhaps the ego-saving of looking down on the task is part of the appeal? Or perhaps I am reading too much into the Google story. Something like “I’ve forgotten how to walk” appeals much more to me since it emphasizes my present lack of skills.
I would suggest “Forgot how to sit down”.