Here's the whole article:<p>> Early stages of learning focus on concrete steps to imitate (shu), the focus then shifts to understanding principles (ha) and finally into self-directed innovation (ri)
That pretty much describes how my learning has gone.<p>I still learn from others, though, even if I'm in "Ri." The industry is continuing to develop. There's more stuff to learn, than I will ever be able to grok.<p>What is a big difference, though, is that I now lean a <i>lot</i> more quickly than I used to, and I do so, in a way that ensures that I understand the concept completely. I never do rote, anymore.
I remember writing down everywhere — in notebooks, calendars — all full of teenage fury and conviction: “OBSERVE THE MASTER / IMITATE THE MASTER / BECOME THE MASTER”. An edgy 14 year old I was. I don’t remember the source for that anymore; it looks too wise to have come from myself.
The word basically means that you must follow the best practice at first. Then break the practice for the actual matter by intention. Finally, make your own way.<p>Important part is to learn the best practice intensively before you break the rule.
A tangent reflection I had on learning and teaching programming:
<a href="https://ngr.yt/blog/computer-as-she-is-spoke/" rel="nofollow">https://ngr.yt/blog/computer-as-she-is-spoke/</a>
This also explains why many time workshops are so painful ... they try to teach the same thing to everyone, but the likelihood of everyone being at the same stage of the learning process is near zero.