On the use of torsion

Consideration is given to the use of torsion in general relativity. It is suggested that connections with torsion are superfluous when working with a simple Riemannian geometry where a Levi-Cevita torsion-free connection is available. It is found that, under certain circumstances, the use of an artificially introduced torsion is useful. The cases where connections with tensorial transformation properties arise naturally are discussed. The use of artificially introduced torsion is illustrated for the case of the Newman-Penrose formalism (1962).