I can see how learning to draw is useful, but it’s not clear to me that it’s useful enough for everyone to learn it as part of basic.
Do you have other suggestions for “learn[ing] how to pay attention to previously unnoticed details, and see[ing] that they can do things that previously seemed like mysterious superpowers”?
I am skeptical of its value for the second one- but that’s because I’m not directly familiar with art instruction. All of the people I know who can draw are artists who have been drawing without instruction for thousands of hours more than they have been drawing with instruction, and while I am aware that almost anyone can learn how to draw competently I don’t how long it takes to learn under instruction. If it could be done in a few days, or an hour’s practice each day for ten weeks, then it would probably be worthwhile as a confidence-building measure. But it’s not clear to me that it’s a better confidence-building measure than alternatives.
And that’s my main point- not “I don’t think that X is a good plan” but “I don’t see enough reason to accept your judgment on this issue.” What alternatives did they consider to drawing? How did they consider them? How did they decide what fraction of their time should be spent on confidence-building, and what fraction should be spent on rationality-building?
Do you have other suggestions for “learn[ing] how to pay attention to previously unnoticed details, and see[ing] that they can do things that previously seemed like mysterious superpowers”?
Not at the moment.
I am skeptical of its value for the second one- but that’s because I’m not directly familiar with art instruction. All of the people I know who can draw are artists who have been drawing without instruction for thousands of hours more than they have been drawing with instruction, and while I am aware that almost anyone can learn how to draw competently I don’t how long it takes to learn under instruction. If it could be done in a few days, or an hour’s practice each day for ten weeks, then it would probably be worthwhile as a confidence-building measure. But it’s not clear to me that it’s a better confidence-building measure than alternatives.
And that’s my main point- not “I don’t think that X is a good plan” but “I don’t see enough reason to accept your judgment on this issue.” What alternatives did they consider to drawing? How did they consider them? How did they decide what fraction of their time should be spent on confidence-building, and what fraction should be spent on rationality-building?