I recently learned to ride with a stick, on a trip with my girlfriend and her dad. My gf just told me what to do, when to press the clutch and when to let go of

I recently learned to ride with a stick, on a trip with my girlfriend and her dad. My gf just told me what to do, when to press the clutch and when to let go of it. This didn't help me at all; I didn't understand the nuances of what to do when, which things to do completely simultaneously and which to one just right after another. And then her dad chimed in, briefly explaining to me what the clutch actually does, and how does the connection between wheels and engine affect both of them. I instantly got it and didn't have to even hear instructions what to do in any particular situation. About 20 minutes later I was able to drive a car from a hand brake on a backwards slope, which is supposed to be one of the hardest things to do with a stick. Understanding how something works from first principles is much more useful for some people, and I think that there's a lot of "some people" among the software engineers.