> But there's definitely a difference between re-building to a spec versus building something new from same components or, as you say, designing something the d

> But there's definitely a difference between re-building to a spec versus building something new from same components or, as you say, designing something the designers never intended I think this is where I like the distinctions below on extension vs invention. Sometimes you're just taking what's there and re-arranging it; sometimes, you're adding new things to replace the existing ones, sometimes you need to clean slate using what you learned from the previous steps. > Would love to hear your ideas for what you want to re-purpose on your car! Here are a few examples: - https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1675296 https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1675296 - https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?p=26245043 https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?p=26245043 It's a surprisingly good intellectual exercise during quarantine :D I think that the other critical piece you mention is "having a goal". Most people are only interested in getting from point A to point B, so they stay at level 1 of cars (or computers, or investing). Once you set a goal for yourself, the incentives shift and you're willing to dive deeper into the levels mentioned here. I often get asked for recommendations on "what programming language to learn" from people interested in learning to code, at which point I ask them "what do you want to do?" Having a goal for which programming is a solution is far more important than learning a language, and the intrinsic motivation will push people to discover the solutions vs the people just doing it because they've been told they should.