The Learn-Do
At no time in history did we learn things on the fly in the way we do today. I call the process of learning as we actually do things the “learn-do.” And it has it good points and its bad points.
Right now I am writing a post on an Internet website using a program I just bought. I have no time to fully learn the program so I jumped right in and started writing and learning at the same time. I can’t figure things out half the time, what makes sense to me does not to the person who wrote the code. But I can see my vision, such as it is, come to fruition in weeks.
I have written three books having done everything myself. I needed images so I had to learn-do Photoshop, book formatting, editing and cover design. I recently had to do work in my car for a bit and I needed to learn-do there too as my current car has very little resemblance to those I have worked on in the past.
When I was young, a cliché I know, if I decided to learn how to building something I studied the process for a while. I learned to do nearly all aspects of plumbing by working with a friend. I learned how to paint by working with paints, canvas and so on. I learned to work in engines by taking them apart, over the course of weeks or months. Most of us learned by taking classes, learning from a friend, and took the time to practice and so on. Now it seems there is no time for that.
Sure the world of computer programming suggests that there is a need for a new “app” every week and those addicted to such things have keep up, but this is more about a mentality of the consciousness process. My friend is a TV and Film producer and editor. It seems every six months he’s spending time learning a new system. He has hundreds of cables that are barely a decade old and all completely obsolete. In the last decade I’ve seen his edit suite go from a room to a laptop. And with each successive upgrade he’s learning again – there is no way to get ahead.
Two years ago I bought some paint to paint my walkway. The paint was a special color mix in a particular type of epoxy. When it came time to paint another area to match I needed more paint. Not only did the store not carry the paint anymore, the counter person had no idea, zero, about the machine that was used to mix the paint. Seems in the interim they had an entirely new system put in that no longer worked anything like the old system. I have pair of shoes I really like, only those are no longer made and the same can be said for nearly everything I like.
I seem to spend too much of my time learning how to use something I use too know how to use just fine 6 months prior. I can’t keep up, as this treadmill is becoming a fulltime job, which doesn’t net me anything new. I had an automated sprinkler system I knew how to work just fine and then it died. The new one isn’t anything like the old one.
Yes I can write my books and put this website together on my own but I don’t really get to know any of it all. I have no time and no energy to become and expert, or even proficient at anything new. I simply find myself being able to do things not to terribly well but just well enough – at least until the upgrade or the discontinuation. I seem to find that if I invest in anything, anything at all, it won’t be long before I have to forget everything I just learned and start again.
