> no way it's "easier" to use chopsticks than pincers
Once you are practiced, yes it is easier. Chopsticks are a more effective and more versatile tool, assuming you can use them fluently.
But you are right that it takes significant practice to achieve fluency. Similar to riding a bike, hand writing, knitting, swimming, playing a musical instrument, controlling a puppet, or any other complex new physical skill.
> don't think most people are interested in mastering their salad fork and feeling satisfaction
A salad fork is an effective but low-skill tool which does not require much practice. An adult can “master” the salad fork in a matter of minutes.
>> Once you are practiced, yes it is easier. Chopsticks are a more effective and more versatile tool, assuming you can use them fluently.
“Versatile” =/= “easier”.
My mother-in-law with arthritis and no familiarity with chopsticks would disagree with you that it’s easier for her, today, to pick up a sweet pea with chopsticks vs those pincers.
I would assume that if you presented people unfamiliar with eating using both implements a meal, the pincers would be selected more often. That’s what most people mean by “easy”- simpler and more intuitive.
What is easier? 100km on foot or 100km on a bicycle? Almost all people already know how to walk and run, it's simpler and more intuitive. But I bet if you know how to ride a bike, you'll pick the bike.
For someone who is fluent, an “easier” learner’s tool is often more cumbersome and less pleasant to use than the original tool.
For example, instead of learning to use general-purpose kitchen knives you could buy a bunch of specialized kitchen gadgets: scallion-cutting scissors, a garlic peeler, a garlic dicer, an asparagus peeler, a strawberry stem remover, a bell pepper seed remover, a tomato slicer, a bread guillotine, an egg slicer, a banana slicer, etc. (these are real devices, not jokes).
For a total novice or someone with a severe disability, these might be “easier” than just using a knife or two for the same job. But for someone who is fluent with 2–3 basic knives, these jobs are all faster, easier, and more effective to do with a knife than with the purpose-built tool; each gadget also has very limited utility and wastes space when not in use.
Can you see how the unqualified statement “a banana slicer is easier to use than a chef’s knife” could also be considered misleading?
Not to give the fork too much credit, but a lot of people don't even hold them correctly. I've watched peoples food dance across plates because of this. Also +1 to the other folks mentioning people with disabilities/arthritis. My dad was in a rehab home for a bit and there were a lot of people who had to have their food served precut.
Forks are not that easy to use actually. It’s probably fine with salads which is a fairly large and easy to stick piece of food but if you have ever seen someone with tremors try to use one it quickly gets obvious that forks require a lot of fine motor skills to be used properly.
Once you are practiced, yes it is easier. Chopsticks are a more effective and more versatile tool, assuming you can use them fluently.
But you are right that it takes significant practice to achieve fluency. Similar to riding a bike, hand writing, knitting, swimming, playing a musical instrument, controlling a puppet, or any other complex new physical skill.
> don't think most people are interested in mastering their salad fork and feeling satisfaction
A salad fork is an effective but low-skill tool which does not require much practice. An adult can “master” the salad fork in a matter of minutes.