I’m a big fan of self-learning - I make a lot of mistakes when I try it, but in most cases, I’ve managed to come out on top in the end.
A long time ago, I toyed with the idea of buying a cheap welder and trying to teach myself to use it - I started a thread here in which I enquired how good a plan that might be - I never actually followed through on that one though.
So this is a thread along the same lines - I have a question about self-learning on a specific topic, but please feel free to add other questions about teaching yourself other skills, or anecdotes about how when you tried and succeeded, or tried and failed, to teach yourself a skill, or descriptions of your general or specific methodologies for self-learning.
Anyway… the question…
Given calm inshore/inland waters with no currents (say, a nice quiet, lake or harbour with plenty of space and no obstacles), a gentle, constant wind and a simple sailing boat - say, a small sailing dinghy with a single sail - that is already configured to go - is it within the realm of possibility that an ordinary person - without any specific tuition, could pick up the basics of sailing a small craft under wind power?
Yes, eventually anybody could figure it out. But a little knowledge going in would help. For instance knowing what a rudder is/does or knowing in general what tacking is. I’ve never sailed but I bet I could pick it up pretty quickly if I had to.
I also enjoy teaching myself. Sometimes this involves just jumping into it and sometimes I will read a book on the subject or study whatever I can find on the internet first. I will, however, almost always read the instructions (if applicable) before getting too far along.
Yes - I’m assuming a basic working knowledge mechanical things - the concept of the sail as an inclined plane, the notion that things tend to travel better through water along their thin axis, etc
I can answer that one! Yes! Done it; it’s a lot of fun.
It helps to have a relatively forgiving dinghy. I learned in a Mirror dinghy, which is very stable and really difficult to capsize. I wasn’t entirely ignorant of sailing though; I’d read Swallows and Amazons and The Ladybird Book of Sailing. But you still mostly learn by just doing it.
Having learned to sail a dinghy, I learned to windsurf just by renting the thing and having a go. You get wet a lot! I recommend a lake rather than the sea, so you don’t have to worry about tides or vanishing over the horizon. I think it would be really hard if you didn’t already know how to sail, though. Too many things to figure out at once.
You can learn to snowboard just by renting one and playing with it. It helps to be at a resort where there’s not many draglifts. You will go home with bruises on your bruises! With hindsight, being told to lean beyond the point of falling when you turn would have saved me a lot of pain. (The turn brings you back into balance. If you don’t do it, you fall over the other way and bruise your hip. Next time, you fall over exactly the same way and bruise the bruise. And the next time, and so on till you figure it out.)
Sailing can definitely be self taught. There is a plethora of books and DVDs that would be helpful, instead of just trying trial/error. If you use Netflix, see:
As for things that cannot be self taught, ultrasonography is on that list, at least as far as I’m concerned. When I bought my veterinary practice, there was a $15,000 ultrasound unit that had just been purchased. I made the payments on it. The thing was brand new, and I decided to learn a little. I invested in a good text, but that didn’t work. It is now 8 years later and the unit is long since paid for, yet still never used. Any one wanna buy it?
Learning to fly a small plane on your own is at the extreme end of marginal and the safety level would be poor. I took off and landed on my own several times during my first lesson and that isn’t all that unusual. However, there are lots and lots of controls and instruments to worry about plus scripted radio work. You just might be able to pull it off as a stunt with many hours of serious MS Flight Simulator work and lots of book work however.
I am fairly certain that you cannot teach yourself how to fly a helicopter.
At least for me - tying a musubi (bow) for fukuro obi. It doesn’t help that practically all of the instructions available online are in Japanese. Which, oddly enough, I can’t read. I have managed to figure out three musubi for half-width obi so I can wear my less formal kimono.
I have managed to teach myself HTML and CSS. I just have to relearn it every time I make a website (I don’t do it very often because, well, it’s a pain in the ass).
You *can * teach yourself to shoot, although you’ll make much quicker progress and waste a lot less ammo if you have a good teacher. The bigger issue, however, is the possibility of teaching yourself bad habits. I’ve done some firearms instruction, and a complete novice is a better student than a poorly self-taught individual with some trigger time who has bad habits to unlearn.
actually, that’s a broader question - is there really anything that absolutely defies personal inquiry? - I suppose there are things that have been developed very incrementally over a long time - and these would be hard to redo from scratch without a received body of knowledge.
I think learning to speak a foreign language is one of those things that can’t be self-taught.
I’m sure some genius here will prove me wrong, but in my experience nothing beats formal language education followed by immersion. That’s how I learned (and continue to learn) Spanish. I tried to teach myself Greek… utter failure.
Oh, and also martial arts. It is REALLY important to have a teacher in this case.
years on haven’t can’t self able now together been brain put to words.