Experience

[rake60]

I read something today on a joke calender that kind of hit home.

It said:
'Experience is the net result of all the Stupid @$$ moves
that you've survived to reach a final result the first time."

Now why did I take that personally?

Rick

 

[DickDastardly40]

I think I read on somebodies signature line on another forum:

'Experience is the sum total of compensating for all your mistakes'.

 

[tmuir]

ROFL

It's so true.
I'll agree I learn a lot more if I stuff something up the first time that if I just get it all right in my first attempt.

Thats why I'm just making small parts to fix toy steam engines I have that need restoring before I make my own engine so any mistake I make will generally only cost me an hour or so of work.

 

[hitandmissman]

If you don't make mistakes you have not learned anything. Mistakes you remember, getting it right the first time is soon forgotten.

 

[Mcgyver]

whats the that line; I thought i made i mistake once then i realized i was wrong

I know the thread is meant in jest, but learning is an interesting topic. Particularly to this hobby where those of us not coming from a related vocation are perpetually disadvantaged in gaining the hours of experience we can get. I'll never get the practical hours of a machinist, but don't want resign myself to forever being a hack either. what do do? My strategy was to accelerate learning through tons of reading combined with shop time. Buy piles of old Live Steam, Model Engineer, the Project books, Guy's Lataurd's beside readers, HSM, Model Engineers Workshop,all the workshop practice series, old high school texts, books like moltrecht and even get into some more technical stuff like the ASM volumes when you have chance. Build a decent library early on as you would a collection of tools. You can really accelerate the learning this way and shop time becomes more and more fun and productive and mistakes become more infrequent (of course they never disappear completely, but that's not the goal)

Mistakes you remember, getting it right the first time is soon forgotten.

only if you got it right by accident, if you got it right by design the positive reinforces learning

hopefully one does learn from mistakes.... but I always thought the wisest advice of all was to learn from other peoples mistakes. Not that you can learn it out of book without practical experience - experience absolutely reinforces and refines learning and knowledge - and mistakes show where you're still lacking in knowledge. But someone who is willing to study and read and absorb literally thousands of years of other peoples experience combined with practical experience will blow by someone committed to first hand making all mistakes there are to be made

 

[tmuir]

I remember a work college saying there are free levels of Knowledge.

1) Those that don't know they don't know

2) Those that know they don't know

and finally

3) Those that know


I probably fall somewhere between 1 and 2 at the moment but hopefully one day I will be between 2 and 3.
I agree I have a large range of books that have been very helpful but you still can't beat practical experience, although reading a chapter in a book about what you are about to do first is a good place to start, or asking a question on this forum.

 

[Cedge]

My shop former shop foreman had a sign over his desk that read:

"Experience is what you have once the bleeding stops"

Steve

 

[malcolmt]

My old metalwork teacher at school (Dick Cable was his name) Used the saying ''The man who never made a mistake, Never made anything''

Aint that de troof

Malcolm ;D

 

[te_gui]

My 9th grade geometry teacher had a sign that has stayed with me 20+ years.

Experience is the toughest teacher, first you take the test, then you learn the lesson.

Brian