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Why can't people just say "sorry, I don't know the answer"?

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Simon:

--- Quote from: Cerebus on September 19, 2020, 09:27:43 pm ---
--- Quote from: m98 on September 19, 2020, 09:14:39 pm ---
--- Quote from: Fixpoint on September 19, 2020, 06:06:54 pm ---On top of that, I once read an article written by "some guy" who opined that one of the best thing a beginner can do is "teaching". What!? Yes, it was probably a self-referential thing. Again.

--- End quote ---
People who recently acquired knowledge, in my experience, are more likely to be able to explain it to someone unfamiliar in a way he can grasp quickly. Also, you improve your own understanding of a subject if you explain it to others.

--- End quote ---

Often if I want to cement my knowledge of something just learned, or if I'm having difficulty grasping that 'last bit' of something I'm currently learning, I'll give (often out loud) an imaginary lecture to a student(s) on the subject. Getting it into a form suitable for communicating it cogently to someone else (even if imaginary) helps to put all the pieces together in a logical order and structure - it also reveals what you do understand and what you need to work on more.

--- End quote ---

Very true, I do that too. At work i will explain a problem to a colleague in the hope they could help despite the fact that I know they don't have a clue what I am on about but I find the solution in explaining it to them. I have heard someone acll this talk to thinker or apparently in the software world it is rubberdukking. You tell the rubber duck on your desk.

Fixpoint:

--- Quote from: Simon on September 20, 2020, 08:42:22 am ---I have heard someone acll this talk to thinker or apparently in the software world it is rubberdukking. You tell the rubber duck on your desk.

--- End quote ---

Yes, but this has nothing to do with what I said. You are talking about how to arrive at a good understanding of something. I am talking about a beginner "teaching" others which in reality means teaching wrong things because he/she doesn't have a clue of anything AND cannot see it because of a lack of understanding and knowledge!

Simon:
I was replying more to the person that quoted you.

Fixpoint:

--- Quote from: Simon on September 20, 2020, 08:56:36 am ---I was replying more to the person that quoted you.

--- End quote ---

Yes, I know, I thought I could subsume my answers just with a quote of you ;)

HobGoblyn:

--- Quote from: Fixpoint on September 19, 2020, 06:06:54 pm ---

So, this sometimes leads to extremes like a teenage noob giving a "tutorial" for what she just "learned" a minute ago. In reality, the person didn't understand anything which shows in the tutorial which teaches wrong things. On top of that, I once read an article written by "some guy" who opined that one of the best thing a beginner can do is "teaching". What!? Yes, it was probably a self-referential thing. Again.

--- End quote ---

While I know exactly the sort of person you are talking about, the guy who taught me most when I was learning UNIX system support, strongly believed that the best way of knowing you understand something is to try teaching it to someone else.

And I believe he was right. I used this method numerous times, just preparing to teach an imaginary person what I’ve learnt, meant it soon became obvious what parts I didn’t properly understand.

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