> I do agree that you can learn with trial and observations, but it's way faster to have someone transmit the knowledge either in person or in books. This enti

> I do agree that you can learn with trial and observations, but it's way faster to have someone transmit the knowledge either in person or in books. This entirely depends on the teacher or the book author. The "do not try anything new, but repeat after me" is a popular method of teaching things when we talk about skills, but often the next step is not just pursued but entirely discouraged. There is a particular point where a teacher says "some of you might fail, but it is a sacrifice I am willing to make" & ask people to do something entirely new by themselves. That is cross-over point where being self-taught has some advantages, because you have external guidance but not instruction. If you're the kind of person who has failed a lot learning basics, then those new failures are less of a knock on your ego than if you had coasted through the early years without learning the parts which come after a failure. Maybe if we all had a clear memory of "learning to walk", it would help - six+ months of falling down and not giving up, which most of us have done once.