Tightrope walking inexperienced funambulists will often walk barefoot so that the wire can be grasped between the big and second toe. This is more often done when using a rope, as the softer and silkier fibres are less taxing on the bare foot than the harder and more abrasive braided wire. The word "funambulism" or the phrase ""walking a tightrope"" is also used in a metaphorical setting not referring to any actual acrobatic acts. For instance, politicians are said to "walk a tightrope" when trying to balance two opposing views with little room for compromise. The term can also be used in
Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance time, as well as the stories of Peter Mays, a technical editor for a 1980s electronics magazine and Mr P - the first person narrator of sections of the novel - who is obsessed with the photograph and with concepts of photography and technology. Powers's later novel "Galatea 2.2", published in 1995, uses the first person perspective of semifictional narrator Richard Powers to describe to a large extent the conditions under which Powers wrote "Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance". "Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance" attempts to balance the technological advancements that caused the large