I think many of us learn in the same manner you describe. A desire to
learn, mixed with a sense of curiosity and stubborn determination will
replace the methodical training provided by teachers. My dad set what
might be considered a bad example, saying, "When all else fails, that
is when you read the instructions".
And dad was true to his word. During a time when he was taking a
correspondence course in radio repair, he collected a pile of old
radios which he tore into with abandonment. He always said he learned
more from his hands on experimenting than he ever learned from the
books.
Carl Jarvis: Remembering that experimenting can also be a shocking
experience when you touch the wrong connection.
On 8/28/19, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Well, Miriam, I never have been a ham radio operator and I don't feel
like learning to use a computer came very easily to me. The way I
learned was through sheer persistence. I got a computer because of all
that I was hearing about the Internet and all the things that could be
done with computers and I felt like I was missing out, that I was being
left in the past. I did not realize what I was getting into. But once I
got it and started trying to teach myself I was determined that I was
not going to have spent all that money for nothing. So I just kept at
it. When I was about to drop out of my chair from mental exhaustion
while it seemed that I was making no progress I reminded myself that I
had spent too much money to give up. And, by the way, those times that I
thought I was making no progress I actually was making progress. I may
not have been learning the specific task I was trying for at the
particular time, but as I seemed to be going down blind alleys I was
picking up bits and pieces that I remembered when trying to learn
another task later. But talent and the ability to learn it easily just
did not seem to apply to me. It was more of a matter of determination.
That is, I was determined to learn how to use my computer as Mostafa is
determined to harass people with his religion. And, like I said, I
learned a little at a time until all those little bits of knowledge
accumulated enough to come together and then almost suddenly I finally
found myself learning rapidly. I do apparently do things differently
from other people though. At a certain point I figured out that when in
most any software I should press alt to explore the menus. When I want
to try a menu item I press enter over it and then follow prompts. I read
these email lists and see that other people are going to certain
functions by pressing a couple of keys, but I am still going to the
menus and arrowing through them until I get to what I want and then I
still follow the prompts. I think my way tends to be slower and more
complicated, but that is the way I learned it
---
George Carlin
??? Tell people there's an invisible man in the sky who created the
universe, and the vast majority will believe you. Tell them the paint is
wet, and they have to touch it to be sure. ???
??? George Carlin
On 8/28/2019 5:19 PM, Miriam Vieni wrote:
One more thing about learning to use them, A lot of blind people were ham
radio operators as a hobby, and those people seemed to learn to use
computers very easily. I had a blind friend who was one. He first learned
to
use a dos computer from a sighted ham radio operator, with whom he was
friendly. Then I remember that something happened to his computer, some
sort
of accident and he hadn't backed up any of his files. He stopped using a
computer for several years. When he decided to start again, everyone was
using windows. He got a windows computer. He'd been using the predecessor
to
Window Eyes when he had his dos computer so he got Window Eyes for his
windows computer, and he taught himself windows. But he was another
person
with a special knack, and he did have friends to turn to when he needed
help.
I don't think that it ever would have occurred to me to get a computer,
had
I not needed it for my work. I got it in the early 90's and only used it
for work for a long time.
Miriam
