question about default skill levels in GURPS 3e

[SDragon]

i'm looking at the costs for the skill levels in GURPS 3e, and im a little confused...

according to the point cost tables, any easy skill (physical or mental) doesn't have a cost until (attribute)-1. i can't help but think that this means theres no cost for having the skill at (attribute)-2. average and hard skills follow the same pattern, just at different skill levels.

my question is, wouldn't this mean the default skill level-- in the case of easy skills, for example-- would be (attribute)-2, and after that, you have to start paying points? if so, then why do some easy skills say they default to less then (attribute)-2? first aid, for example, defaults to IQ-5....

what gives?

[SA]

This means, simply, that if you have not spent points in it, you are at default (IQ-5).  The moment you spend even a single point in it, it is at IQ-1.

The rationale is that some skills, while possible to use untrained, are so darn hard that you get a huge penalty to use them (contrast First-Aid with Surgery, which - at least in 4e - defaults to First-Aid at -12 and has no attribute default!), but the moment you start getting the skillin' you quickly attain a level of skill approaching your natural comprehension.