Typing 118 WPM broke my brain in the right ways • Hacker News Board

Re: Typing 118 WPM broke my brain in the right ways

#81

Post by jchw » Mon, Jun 02, 2025, 9:39 PM UTC

dawnofdusk wrote: post #47

jchw wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to type >140 WPM at high accuracy when I was younger without home row. These days I think I likely sit closer to 90 WPM or so, since I really just don't really need to type super fast very often and am pretty out of practice. I reckon home row is probably not terrible or anything, but like a lot of weird old ergonomics advice, I just don't trust the idea that you must or possibly even should use home row. For…

Staying at home row is not really about ergonomics. The best thing you can do (without breaking the bank, i.e., no bespoke split keyboard setups) for your hand ergonomics at the computer is to get a vertical mouse and tilt your keyboard downwards and away from you (the opposite of what most keyboard feet do, which is tilt your keyboard up and towards you). Both of these keep your wrist neutral/in slight flexion, wher…

Interestingly, vertical mice I've tried (yes plural) feel intensely uncomfortable and make my wrist hurt. I actually quite like to use a trackball, but I'm not sure that did much for me either. Best I've ever done is just use the mouse less I guess. Maybe I'll learn to use a pen tablet as my primary pointing device instead.

Re: Typing 118 WPM broke my brain in the right ways

#82

Post by beej71 » Mon, Jun 02, 2025, 9:39 PM UTC

All you fast typists... I'm in the 65 wpm club. :) Maybe I've slowed as I've aged. But I also never in my life have felt restricted by my typing speed.

Re: Typing 118 WPM broke my brain in the right ways

#83

Post by Tarsul » Mon, Jun 02, 2025, 9:41 PM UTC

dawnofdusk wrote: post #47

jchw wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to type >140 WPM at high accuracy when I was younger without home row. These days I think I likely sit closer to 90 WPM or so, since I really just don't really need to type super fast very often and am pretty out of practice. I reckon home row is probably not terrible or anything, but like a lot of weird old ergonomics advice, I just don't trust the idea that you must or possibly even should use home row. For…

Staying at home row is not really about ergonomics. The best thing you can do (without breaking the bank, i.e., no bespoke split keyboard setups) for your hand ergonomics at the computer is to get a vertical mouse and tilt your keyboard downwards and away from you (the opposite of what most keyboard feet do, which is tilt your keyboard up and towards you). Both of these keep your wrist neutral/in slight flexion, wher…

I use my standing desk to change the height for sitting here and there. I imagine it helps my wrists and shoulders.

Re: Typing 118 WPM broke my brain in the right ways

#84

Post by nawgz » Mon, Jun 02, 2025, 9:43 PM UTC

I do not see the value in making your own ad hoc style, nor does being a decent typist support any such claim. The whole point of home row is that your fingers can ergonomically access every key on the keyboard without requiring you to move your entire hand, and that seems basically like a requirement to me to be able to actually type properly without looking at your keyboard. F and J are the only keys with bumps for a reason.

I am skilled as a typist - just pulled off an easy 150wpm with 100% accuracy on this keybr site - and I learned typing and piano starting at a young age. Seems like a bit of hubris to disregard tradition just because you can beat up on internet randoms on keybr.com

Re: Typing 118 WPM broke my brain in the right ways

#85

Post by dawnofdusk » Mon, Jun 02, 2025, 9:45 PM UTC

jchw wrote: post #81

dawnofdusk wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Staying at home row is not really about ergonomics. The best thing you can do (without breaking the bank, i.e., no bespoke split keyboard setups) for your hand ergonomics at the computer is to get a vertical mouse and tilt your keyboard downwards and away from you (the opposite of what most keyboard feet do, which is tilt your keyboard up and towards you). Both of these keep your wrist neutral/in slight flexion, wher…

Interestingly, vertical mice I've tried (yes plural) feel intensely uncomfortable and make my wrist hurt. I actually quite like to use a trackball, but I'm not sure that did much for me either. Best I've ever done is just use the mouse less I guess. Maybe I'll learn to use a pen tablet as my primary pointing device instead.

Interesting! My personal experience is that using a vertical mouse very quickly cured wrist and forearm pain that I had, and that the reason is because the "handshake" position is the most neutral hand/forearm posture from an anatomical perspective. But everyone is different, of course

Re: Typing 118 WPM broke my brain in the right ways

#86

Post by account-5 » Mon, Jun 02, 2025, 10:12 PM UTC

nick__m wrote: post #73

account-5 wrote: post #43

I can't even read 118 WPM...

Try this https://www.spreeder.com/app.php I am sure that the default 300WPM will be easy.

Haha, nope. I get about 5 works in and lose it. Something about pasting.

Re: Typing 118 WPM broke my brain in the right ways

#87

Post by Starlevel004 » Mon, Jun 02, 2025, 10:20 PM UTC

JohnMakin wrote: post #4

> Plot twist: I don't type "correctly" at all. My fingers just go wherever they want. It's like anarchist typing. My left pinky probably hasn't touched the 'A' key in months, but somehow I'm still in the 99.5 percentile. Turns out the "proper way" is just a suggestion. Like following PEP 8 or using semicolons in JavaScript. Sure, it's nice, but if your way works better, who cares? This is super interesting - I have t…

I have a similar typing style, with two finger typing for nearly all keys except shift with uses my little finger. I too am at around 100wpm on average with peaks of ~130wpm depending on keyboard.

It's cool to see somebody else out there who types like I do.

Re: Typing 118 WPM broke my brain in the right ways

#88

Post by cosmic_cheese » Mon, Jun 02, 2025, 10:23 PM UTC

temp0826 wrote: post #29

I'm all for bad form. Playing MMOs broke me and I type probably 75% of the keyboard with my left hand (gotta keep on the mouse!)

In the same vein, I credit playing original WoW on a PvP server for much of my ability to type quickly. Can’t be sitting there pecking out a message for too long when there’s undead rogues lurking!

Re: Typing 118 WPM broke my brain in the right ways

#89

Post by JohnMakin » Mon, Jun 02, 2025, 10:30 PM UTC

harrall wrote: post #12

JohnMakin wrote: post #4

> Plot twist: I don't type "correctly" at all. My fingers just go wherever they want. It's like anarchist typing. My left pinky probably hasn't touched the 'A' key in months, but somehow I'm still in the 99.5 percentile. Turns out the "proper way" is just a suggestion. Like following PEP 8 or using semicolons in JavaScript. Sure, it's nice, but if your way works better, who cares? This is super interesting - I have t…

Same. I’m embarrassed to explain how I type but I can do 125 (80 on iPhone, no swipe). If I’m going to be real, just you’re naturally talented and coordinated with your hands. That’s why most people can’t relate. We should form a group where we do finger things. /s

Weird, I thought I was so unique until I read some of the comments in this thread. I too am about 80-90 wpm on iphone, no swipe, and no autocorrect (it messes me up)

Re: Typing 118 WPM broke my brain in the right ways

#90

Post by TeMPOraL » Mon, Jun 02, 2025, 10:32 PM UTC

esseph wrote: post #77

nand_gate wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

WASD is my home row, still 120-140. I lowkey judge any developer who is noticable slow at typing as I can't imagine they're using a computer effectively at such a pace given how much keyboard hitting needs to occur during regular use alone. Not that it's a high bar but I'm surprised more companies don't test wpm when hiring over rote crap like LC.

Typing fast may be the least important thing towards developing a well designed, long-lived product.

So the saying goes, but this article, and many people's honest experience, suggests otherwise.

Yes, developing complex systems is about thinking, not typing. But human head only fits so much, and once you pick up a tool to externalize your thinking, be it pen and paper, or text editor, or a whiteboard, you're limited by I/O. Reading is by far the fastest part, but if you're typing (or sketching) slower than you think, your entire thought process is now I/O bound.

There are many ways to improve this - with editors, you can use shortcuts, compose complex commands, use autocomplete, etc. - but the nice thing is, most of these improvements are purely additive. So it really doesn't hurt to learn to type faster than you think, and it'll definitely help some.