The wonderful wisdom of youth!

I know I haven't written anything lately, and writing this I wonder if I'll get to the end to finish it; or if I do, how much time it's taken to write a few paragraphs.  Of course, Mad T has been sort of busy this past week or so, job hunting, but time has largely been involved with the joys of technology.  This is one area I willing confess to being a complete idiot, and my admiration for the mass of young individuals out there knows no bounds in their individual search for technological glory and immortality.

Of course it would be very self-defeating in my own creative quest to completely ignore the undoubted 'wisdom' of young aficionados of the MacWorld, they, after all they clearly love their passion and dedication for their love of Macs and software.  And as I've sat through endless Youtube videos, increasing my own particular knowledge, I can't help but admire their enthusiasm and devil may care attitude.  Yes, I've learnt much and will continue to do so, and the most I've learnt is that their determination to be 'heard' is wonderfully refreshing, no matter the doubts about their teaching style, their occasional impatience and their, sometimes, expectation you're on the same planet as they are.

But the one thing that is wonderfully engaging is their refusal to stick to the norm, to take you through a particular subject sticking to the manual.  Watching them is akin to watching the 'rebel' finding the quickest solution to a problem posed, and totally ignoring the 'wisdom of their elders'.  This is no doubt fuelled by their desire to 'get on with it', having little fear of the consequences, and in the end showing that experience isn't the only crutch we should lean on.

As I'm a 'newbie' to the world of the Mac and its software, my starting point is Apple's tutorials on this or that, but they don't answer every question.  In many ways they are curtailed by their inability to do any more than give the essential basics, which tends to restrict the amount of knowledge they can pass on.  And if you watch an Apple tutorial they stick to the point, slavishly follow the manual and leave you only a little more wiser than when you started.  No, I'm not being critical of Apple, they do what they do well, supported by a vast knowledge base but I can't help wonder if they couldn't do somethings better.

So, as I'm now embarked on a very steep learning curve the one thing I appreciate more than anything is the shortcut to an answer.  Those shortcuts, the very lifeblood of all learning, will get me there much quicker to where I want to be.  And if there is one moral to this blog, it's that we should pay far more attention to the minds and wisdom of the young; it's one thing showing grandma how to suck eggs, it's another showing grandma how to do it with more enthusiasm and passion.