Bill Nye: lack of balance in ~1/2 of all shoelace knots is heartbreaking
July 11, 2017 2:57 PM Subscribe
"You see; shoelaces are not just shoelaces when you view them through the filter of everything all at once. They are the raw material of knots, and knots are the embodiment of mathematical beauty; mathematical beauty is a fabulously useful tool for rational problem solving; and rational problem solving is, of course, the most powerful tool for changing the world. In my Nye’s-eye view of the world, tying a well-crafted knot is like a personal promise to engage in that whole glorious process." An article on the beauty and strength of good knots, by Bill Nye.
All this talk of shoe laces may seem like an unimportant detail of everyday life, but it is always underfoot—or literally atop foot. A shoelace knot is a metaphor for the scientific approach to problem-solving. Too many people learned to tie bow knots in their shoes and accepted that imperfect, unsymmetrical, time-consuming route rather than dig deeper for a better long-term approach. So when I wax poetic about the beauty of a square knot, it’s not only because I like showing off my sailor skills; it’s because good design should be good all the way down to the details, even when we’re talking about something fairly straightforward like tying knots. I think we should all make a habit out of expecting the best problem-solving from ourselves, and there’s no better place to start than with design problems we encounter every day. That’s where things like shoelaces work well or . . . not. (Get it? Or knot? Uh . . . sorry.)Excerpted from Everything All At Once: How to Unleash Your Inner Nerd, Tap into Radical Curiosity and Solve Any Problem (Goodreads; Amazon) by Bill Nye.
Or is this Hero of Science just trolling to get Deniers of Science to stop tying their shoelaces at all and trip over them, falling on their faces?
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:32 PM on July 11, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:32 PM on July 11, 2017 [4 favorites]
I thought I'd become an atheist to get away from prescriptivist nags telling me how I'm doing it wrong.
I'll just leave the punchline hanging there for you to make privately.
posted by wotsac at 3:44 PM on July 11, 2017 [3 favorites]
I'll just leave the punchline hanging there for you to make privately.
posted by wotsac at 3:44 PM on July 11, 2017 [3 favorites]
I've been using the regular shoe knot that I was taught back in kindergarten or whenever and I've never had a problem with it coming undone ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ A lot of shoes I wear these days I just keep them tied and slip my feet in and out just fine.
posted by gucci mane at 3:45 PM on July 11, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by gucci mane at 3:45 PM on July 11, 2017 [6 favorites]
I have several books on knots, including a huge book on sailor's knots. I do consult them from time-to-time, in fact I had one of them out to help me best hang a pot from one of our trees just last weekend.
That said, I've found that the best design solution for shoes is slips-ons.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:47 PM on July 11, 2017 [4 favorites]
That said, I've found that the best design solution for shoes is slips-ons.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:47 PM on July 11, 2017 [4 favorites]
Bill ain't got shit on Ian.
Came here to post that same link. That method is seriously the fastest and easiest way to tie a balanced knot.
posted by noneuclidean at 3:52 PM on July 11, 2017 [5 favorites]
Came here to post that same link. That method is seriously the fastest and easiest way to tie a balanced knot.
posted by noneuclidean at 3:52 PM on July 11, 2017 [5 favorites]
I believe David Rees's deep dive into shoelace tying is relevant.
posted by hanov3r at 4:16 PM on July 11, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by hanov3r at 4:16 PM on July 11, 2017 [5 favorites]
Yup, like the DevilsAdvocate above, my square bunny ears lie athwart, but the gremlins still tug on my aglets anyway. I'm a bunny ear double knotter because of that.
I lubs me some knots. Unfortunately, being mostly thumbs and having an occasional hitch in my recall thanks to a stroke, I sometimes struggle with my two favorites: the bowline and the trucker's hitch. Unfortunately, memorizing the Ylvis lyrics didn't do much for my memory on the how-to of the latter.
I have a way cool little book titled Braiding and Knotting for Amateurs, by the euphonious Constantine A. Belash, first printed in 1936.
Best $.25 I ever spent at a yard sale.
All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign languages, including Scandinavian.
Very clear in showing fancy knots such as the Turk''s head, Carrick, Shell Knot, etc.
posted by BlueHorse at 4:25 PM on July 11, 2017 [4 favorites]
I lubs me some knots. Unfortunately, being mostly thumbs and having an occasional hitch in my recall thanks to a stroke, I sometimes struggle with my two favorites: the bowline and the trucker's hitch. Unfortunately, memorizing the Ylvis lyrics didn't do much for my memory on the how-to of the latter.
I have a way cool little book titled Braiding and Knotting for Amateurs, by the euphonious Constantine A. Belash, first printed in 1936.
Best $.25 I ever spent at a yard sale.
All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign languages, including Scandinavian.
Very clear in showing fancy knots such as the Turk''s head, Carrick, Shell Knot, etc.
posted by BlueHorse at 4:25 PM on July 11, 2017 [4 favorites]
The bane of my existence (ok, I jest a little), are polyester shoe laces, especially those on sneakers, which untie themselves due to excessive lack of friction. Clearly I need to switch up to the squareknot bow.
posted by mollymillions at 4:43 PM on July 11, 2017
posted by mollymillions at 4:43 PM on July 11, 2017
My shoelaces still come untied moderately often.
Tie Ian's Secure Shoelace Knot instead.
posted by nicwolff at 4:43 PM on July 11, 2017 [6 favorites]
Tie Ian's Secure Shoelace Knot instead.
posted by nicwolff at 4:43 PM on July 11, 2017 [6 favorites]
A not-neat knot is a not-needed knot. QFT.
posted by cyclotronboy at 4:58 PM on July 11, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by cyclotronboy at 4:58 PM on July 11, 2017 [3 favorites]
One loop at a time, double-wrapped bunny ears, everything else is WANTON NERDERY.
posted by rhizome at 5:02 PM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by rhizome at 5:02 PM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
Wrap one lace over the other, then the second lace over the first one.
Am I the only one who cannot picture what Mr. Nye is instructing us to do?
posted by runcibleshaw at 5:29 PM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
Am I the only one who cannot picture what Mr. Nye is instructing us to do?
posted by runcibleshaw at 5:29 PM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
Actually it appears, after reading the links to the "Ian Knot", that I am somehow mentally unable to understand any knot-tying instructions, even those with helpful images.
posted by runcibleshaw at 5:34 PM on July 11, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by runcibleshaw at 5:34 PM on July 11, 2017 [11 favorites]
I tie my shoes as I was taught, and they are square, not granny. (Why pick on grannies? My Mom was a fierce sailor. I am no wuss. Language, feh.) I use a figure 8 knot pretty often; useful for a hank of rope or extension cords. When I took a sailing class I learned a bowline, and that is also useful. However, velcro on toddler's shoes deserves a Nobel Prize.
posted by theora55 at 5:36 PM on July 11, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by theora55 at 5:36 PM on July 11, 2017 [2 favorites]
For the longest time, I'd find my shoelaces coming undone seemingly every thirty steps. I couldn't figure it out. My shoelace knots looked like other shoelace knots; how come their shoes were blissfully laced and fastened where mine were constantly not?
I actually had to go look up the process on a website to finally realize that I'd been doing it wrong all these years, and I'm pretty sure it's the revelation Bill Nye is talking about. Once I changed the knot, suddenly all my shoelace issues were gone. It really was night and day.
So I am all about this article. The tip within really did change my life, in an extremely small and trivial but still meaningful way.
posted by chrominance at 5:59 PM on July 11, 2017
I actually had to go look up the process on a website to finally realize that I'd been doing it wrong all these years, and I'm pretty sure it's the revelation Bill Nye is talking about. Once I changed the knot, suddenly all my shoelace issues were gone. It really was night and day.
So I am all about this article. The tip within really did change my life, in an extremely small and trivial but still meaningful way.
posted by chrominance at 5:59 PM on July 11, 2017
The only internet knot-tying resource worth a damn is Animated Knots by Grog. Certainly this is true for folks who can't perfectly envision a knot from descriptions.
It even includes the Ian Knot.
posted by tobascodagama at 6:03 PM on July 11, 2017 [4 favorites]
It even includes the Ian Knot.
posted by tobascodagama at 6:03 PM on July 11, 2017 [4 favorites]
I love Bill Nye, but in this case, AskMe was way ahead of him. I have used that post (which does cite some of the information linked above) as an example of how Metafilter has changed my life for the better, in a seemingly trivial but very concrete way.
posted by TedW at 6:07 PM on July 11, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by TedW at 6:07 PM on July 11, 2017 [2 favorites]
The Ian Knot instructions looked incredibly complicated to me, but boy was it worth it to parse through them. The last time this came up here in the blue I tried it and was hooked. It's so incredibly, massively easy and quick. I coach baseball for kids under 8, and there's always a few kids with cleats/shoes untied every night. The Ian Knot is like a magic trick I perform for them - you see them doing the bunny ears laboriously, and I tie them in under two seconds. I think I get more respect from them for that than all the baseball instruction I give them.
posted by GhostintheMachine at 6:09 PM on July 11, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by GhostintheMachine at 6:09 PM on July 11, 2017 [3 favorites]
Having two shoes means I achieve symmetry by doing two opposite direction granny knots. Seems to work since I haven't retied them in a few months despite wearing them every day.
posted by mattamatic at 6:24 PM on July 11, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by mattamatic at 6:24 PM on July 11, 2017 [3 favorites]
The bane of my existence (ok, I jest a little), are polyester shoe laces....
Quoted for truth! Not to mention they fray out and look horrible, they pick up all the gunk in the world, including a ton of cheatgrass and burrs if you walk off the sidewalk, and they usually loose the aglets after three wearings.
(There! I've used the word a-g-l-e-t twice today.)
posted by BlueHorse at 6:32 PM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
Quoted for truth! Not to mention they fray out and look horrible, they pick up all the gunk in the world, including a ton of cheatgrass and burrs if you walk off the sidewalk, and they usually loose the aglets after three wearings.
(There! I've used the word a-g-l-e-t twice today.)
posted by BlueHorse at 6:32 PM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
Having caught a particularly slippery lace in a bike gear (ya don't do that) came here to state that there is no shame in a locking hitch. (that overhand knot in the bow like for toddlers) Have your shoes look a bit silly or suddenly stop dead in traffic with your foot yanked and wound up into the gears, your choice.
posted by sammyo at 7:34 PM on July 11, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by sammyo at 7:34 PM on July 11, 2017 [2 favorites]
Ian's Secure Shoelace Knot: Posssibly most useless 1st level cleric spell ever.
posted by joeyh at 7:49 PM on July 11, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by joeyh at 7:49 PM on July 11, 2017 [8 favorites]
Ian's Secure Shoelace Knot: Posssibly most useless 1st level cleric spell ever.
If I were your DM, you and others in your party would be tripping over untied footwear at any number of inopportune times for that remark.
posted by TedW at 8:08 PM on July 11, 2017 [11 favorites]
If I were your DM, you and others in your party would be tripping over untied footwear at any number of inopportune times for that remark.
posted by TedW at 8:08 PM on July 11, 2017 [11 favorites]
Ian's Secure Shoelace Knot is fantastic. That sucker works. I've never used another method since I learned that one.
posted by fimbulvetr at 8:23 PM on July 11, 2017
posted by fimbulvetr at 8:23 PM on July 11, 2017
Despite being neither a toddler nor superannuated, I've worn Velcro-closure shoes for at least two decades to avoid exactly the problems that so grieve Nye. Works like a charm. But I do appreciate what he is saying about design and doing things well.
posted by bryon at 9:25 PM on July 11, 2017
posted by bryon at 9:25 PM on July 11, 2017
I tried to teach my children to tie their shoes and failed so badly we went to a specialized shoe store to get velcro shoes in larger sizes when they outgrew little-kid velcro. *shame*
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 10:10 PM on July 11, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 10:10 PM on July 11, 2017 [2 favorites]
You are the only people I will be telling that I just spent half an hour relearning to tye my shoes.
posted by lemonade at 10:42 PM on July 11, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by lemonade at 10:42 PM on July 11, 2017 [4 favorites]
Everybody in this thread has been there.
posted by rhizome at 2:09 AM on July 12, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by rhizome at 2:09 AM on July 12, 2017 [3 favorites]
Not true. I'm here and I couldn't really follow the instructions, so I gave up in way less than half an hour.
(Going to go and find myself a blue/yellow shoelace though...)
posted by pompomtom at 3:28 AM on July 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
(Going to go and find myself a blue/yellow shoelace though...)
posted by pompomtom at 3:28 AM on July 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
Two things:
1. Because there's such a thing as shoes without laces (loafers, I guess, but also in sneaker form?) I haven't had to tie my shoes in at least 10 years or so.
2. I will have no bad-mouthing of Bill Nye, as thanks to his classic show streaming on Netflix, my five year old can name all the planets (including Pluto, which he insists will be reinstated as a planet by the end of the year), knows what inertia is and that we breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. So, he's a nerd, but a smart nerd with actual factual knowledge, not the bad kind of nerd I was at his age who couldn't name the planets but could quote Star Wars chapter and verse.
posted by cottoncandybeard at 6:27 AM on July 12, 2017
1. Because there's such a thing as shoes without laces (loafers, I guess, but also in sneaker form?) I haven't had to tie my shoes in at least 10 years or so.
2. I will have no bad-mouthing of Bill Nye, as thanks to his classic show streaming on Netflix, my five year old can name all the planets (including Pluto, which he insists will be reinstated as a planet by the end of the year), knows what inertia is and that we breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. So, he's a nerd, but a smart nerd with actual factual knowledge, not the bad kind of nerd I was at his age who couldn't name the planets but could quote Star Wars chapter and verse.
posted by cottoncandybeard at 6:27 AM on July 12, 2017
I solved this problem by eliminating shoelaces from my life. I wear Chacos for most casual situations and slip-on work boots for, well, work.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 6:31 AM on July 12, 2017
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 6:31 AM on July 12, 2017
If only Chacos had adjustable heel straps. I can only wear their flip-flops.
Slip-on shoes in general are usually made for people with more standard-sized feet. Wide toes and narrow heels don't often go well in any kind of slip-on that requires heel-to-shoe contact (so Sanita/Dansko clogs are fine, but most slip-on sneakers are right out).
And so I wear shoes with laces for at least part of almost every day. Thanks, Ian and Bill, for spreading the knowledge that makes this possible.
posted by asperity at 6:43 AM on July 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
Slip-on shoes in general are usually made for people with more standard-sized feet. Wide toes and narrow heels don't often go well in any kind of slip-on that requires heel-to-shoe contact (so Sanita/Dansko clogs are fine, but most slip-on sneakers are right out).
And so I wear shoes with laces for at least part of almost every day. Thanks, Ian and Bill, for spreading the knowledge that makes this possible.
posted by asperity at 6:43 AM on July 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
Ian's Secure Shoelace Knot: Possibly most useless 1st level cleric spell ever.
I once showed Ian's shoelace knot to some kids and it blew their minds. It was like a slight of hand trick but I could keep showing it to them over and over, it didn't get old because there is no trick. It is just a very smoothly made up knot.
If you can tie this smoothly I suggest you do this the next time you are at a family reunion or something. You need kids who are old enough to understand what is going on and see the elegance in the movements. Smaller kids will just think you tied the normal knot quickly.
You find a 10 or 12 year old with some younger kids around. The 12 year old remembers learning to tie his shoes and the younger kids are still learning. Then you say, "hey, I think you tied your shoes laces wrong, show me how you do it." They do strangle the bunny or what ever passes for a shoelace knot in their house. You say "No, that's not right." Nothing focuses the attention of a young person like knowing they are right and the chance to prove an adult wrong. Gather them around, untie your shoe, position the opposing loops and pause here for a second, then make up the knot. If you can, don't watch the knot, watch their face.
posted by bdc34 at 7:43 AM on July 12, 2017 [3 favorites]
I once showed Ian's shoelace knot to some kids and it blew their minds. It was like a slight of hand trick but I could keep showing it to them over and over, it didn't get old because there is no trick. It is just a very smoothly made up knot.
If you can tie this smoothly I suggest you do this the next time you are at a family reunion or something. You need kids who are old enough to understand what is going on and see the elegance in the movements. Smaller kids will just think you tied the normal knot quickly.
You find a 10 or 12 year old with some younger kids around. The 12 year old remembers learning to tie his shoes and the younger kids are still learning. Then you say, "hey, I think you tied your shoes laces wrong, show me how you do it." They do strangle the bunny or what ever passes for a shoelace knot in their house. You say "No, that's not right." Nothing focuses the attention of a young person like knowing they are right and the chance to prove an adult wrong. Gather them around, untie your shoe, position the opposing loops and pause here for a second, then make up the knot. If you can, don't watch the knot, watch their face.
posted by bdc34 at 7:43 AM on July 12, 2017 [3 favorites]
Anyone remember loafers?
Remember them? I work with them!
But returning to shoes... Chelsea boots for me, preferably a nice pair of well worn-in R M Williams. Darned expensive, but they last forever.
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 8:14 AM on July 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
Remember them? I work with them!
But returning to shoes... Chelsea boots for me, preferably a nice pair of well worn-in R M Williams. Darned expensive, but they last forever.
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 8:14 AM on July 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
Having caught a particularly slippery lace in a bike gear (ya don't do that) came here to state that there is no shame in a locking hitch. (that overhand knot in the bow like for toddlers) Have your shoes look a bit silly or suddenly stop dead in traffic with your foot yanked and wound up into the gears, your choice.
Is there a picture of what you mean? I can't picture what it looks like for shoelaces. I have the same issue (road bikes with no chain guard) - I just do a bow knot and tuck the ends into my runners.
posted by kersplunk at 8:16 AM on July 12, 2017
Is there a picture of what you mean? I can't picture what it looks like for shoelaces. I have the same issue (road bikes with no chain guard) - I just do a bow knot and tuck the ends into my runners.
posted by kersplunk at 8:16 AM on July 12, 2017
Grog's site shows a locking knot on the end of the standard shoelace bow. (Keep pressing right-arrow after it gets to the end of the standard bow.)
posted by tobascodagama at 9:18 AM on July 12, 2017
posted by tobascodagama at 9:18 AM on July 12, 2017
The only lace-up shoes I own are sneakers and discovering the elastic-cord-with-plastic-toggle type has been a godsend.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 9:41 AM on July 12, 2017
posted by TWinbrook8 at 9:41 AM on July 12, 2017
Since we are on the subject of well-crafted knots, my wife has been tying them for a good part of her life. Lots of vertical and horizontal double half-hitches with square, alternating half-hitches and reverse larks head knots thrown in the mix. I’ve even learned the technique (micro-macrame) so that I can help teach it.
You could say that we make our living teaching and tying knots!
posted by jabo at 11:49 AM on July 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
You could say that we make our living teaching and tying knots!
posted by jabo at 11:49 AM on July 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
The Ian knot has changed my life. It is nearly midnight and I just sat on the floor in my pajamas and failed and failed and then it just... came together... so simple... so beautiful... where has this been lo so many years?! Fuck off forever, bunny ears!
posted by hapaxes.legomenon at 9:34 PM on July 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by hapaxes.legomenon at 9:34 PM on July 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
Another chime here that the secure shoelace knot changed my life after I learned about that site about.. goddamn... 10 years ago!
I also have successfully used the Knotted Segment Lacing to give a pair of sneakers I no longer have more breathing room in the lower part of the shoes.
posted by numaner at 2:18 PM on July 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
I also have successfully used the Knotted Segment Lacing to give a pair of sneakers I no longer have more breathing room in the lower part of the shoes.
posted by numaner at 2:18 PM on July 13, 2017 [1 favorite]
Not a fan of this trope, but . . .
Metafilter: WANTON NERDERY.
posted by SLC Mom at 9:10 AM on July 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
Metafilter: WANTON NERDERY.
posted by SLC Mom at 9:10 AM on July 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
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My shoelaces still come untied moderately often.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 3:22 PM on July 11, 2017 [3 favorites]