Joel_BC
Super Self-Sufficient
Yesterday an interesting subject came up, on a thread about a particular specific topic. A new member here, Rarity, mentioned that s/he benefits from instructional books and enjoys learning SS-type skills from books. Fair enough, I've used a lot of practical books myself, and I have a lot of them on my shelves.
I've been thinking (for a while now) about my favorite ways of learning practical things, hand skills, stuff like that. My parents both came from rural families, but opted for the city (and later, large-town) life. Particularly my dad wanted to forget about getting dirty and physically worn-out by the end of the day - so much so that he passed on only a small number of hand skills to me. As a young guy I chose to go live on a farm, and at that point got some gardening mentorship from the farm family. Over the years, I learned a bunch of good stuff (carpentry, electrical, water systems, plumbing) from friends my own age, too. I like personal demonstration and instruction best because I can ask questions along the way, or my mentor can point out errors or inefficiencies in my attempts.
Given the "age of communication" we live in, my personal attitude - after learning directly from a person (parent, teacher, friend, etc) - is that the next best would often be something like a DVD or Youtube video (or series of them). To me audio-visual media, like films and videos, are better than books or articles because they show things in motion and usually give you three-dimensional views. And I like the conversational tone of the commentary on modern instructional vids.
I've been a book lover nearly all my life, but I have to admit that I'd tend to give book or magazine articles "third best" position when I want to learn practical stuff. But printed info, like people or videos, can definitely help you not to waste your time "reinventing the wheel"!
I'm real curious how other people here on SS like to learn. How about it?
I've been thinking (for a while now) about my favorite ways of learning practical things, hand skills, stuff like that. My parents both came from rural families, but opted for the city (and later, large-town) life. Particularly my dad wanted to forget about getting dirty and physically worn-out by the end of the day - so much so that he passed on only a small number of hand skills to me. As a young guy I chose to go live on a farm, and at that point got some gardening mentorship from the farm family. Over the years, I learned a bunch of good stuff (carpentry, electrical, water systems, plumbing) from friends my own age, too. I like personal demonstration and instruction best because I can ask questions along the way, or my mentor can point out errors or inefficiencies in my attempts.
Given the "age of communication" we live in, my personal attitude - after learning directly from a person (parent, teacher, friend, etc) - is that the next best would often be something like a DVD or Youtube video (or series of them). To me audio-visual media, like films and videos, are better than books or articles because they show things in motion and usually give you three-dimensional views. And I like the conversational tone of the commentary on modern instructional vids.
I've been a book lover nearly all my life, but I have to admit that I'd tend to give book or magazine articles "third best" position when I want to learn practical stuff. But printed info, like people or videos, can definitely help you not to waste your time "reinventing the wheel"!
I'm real curious how other people here on SS like to learn. How about it?
It is hard for me to focus on just one subject or stream of thought, but must deal with the plethora of thoughts I've absorbed on the subject or even on vaguely related subjects. 
