
Typists who clear 70 wpm can’t even say where the keys are - shawndumas
http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/12/typists-who-clear-70wpm-cant-even-say-where-the-keys-are/
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dredmorbius
If I need to sort out key locations on a keyboard, I usually type out the
alphabet and note where the keys fall (I know the sequence, I couldn't tell
you many key locations straight off without reconstructing them).

Recently doing some keyboard maintenance (cleaning out cruft), I'd managed to
reassemble things _almost_ perfectly, though I swapped the 'I' and '0' keys.
Didn't realize this until I was trying to hit some specific application
options and realized that what I was typing (by looking at the keyboard)
wasn't what was appearing. When typing whole words I was working from my
typing training and hadn't bumped into the problem.

It's an example of muscle memory and ingrained knowledge. Having to think
_explicitly_ of the actions you're going to perform is a great way to freeze
someone up (I've heard this said of baseball players and other athletes). You
_do_ want to work through things consciously early in practice, but once
you've developed a talent, the trick is to find the right cues (often
counterintuitive) to improve movements or skills.

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cyberjunkie
Haha! I did just that 2 weeks back, dredmorbius. At first with a completely
blank keyboard, I struggled a bit. I decided to fit in the Ctrl Winkey Alt the
left row of keys first and it all happened naturally after that.

