I generally agree with the sentiment, but in some cases I’ve found asking people for help is more effective since
a) they can give you specific assistance relative to your situation.
b) you can ask them follow up questions if you get stuck.
For example I live in an area where the developer built 50 identical houses. I’d much rather ask the neighbors how they did a DIY project than google, because I know their experience is directly relevant to me.
Good point; complex, real world questions/problems are often not Googleable, but I suspect a lot of time is spent dealing with mundane, relatively non-complex problems. Even in your example, I bet there is something useful to be learned from Googling “DIY cabinet instructions” or whatever.
Last week, I noticed a 3M Command Wire Hook kept falling down. Trivial fixes like cleaning the wall as described in the instructions did not work.
I tried to search for information about calculating the total load that is placed on the hook by 5 cables with different lengths and diameter along with various points of support.
After about fifteen to thirty minutes of trying to figure out statics (with no formal training besides the standard introductory college physics classes), I gave up. Then, I searched for information about the likely weight of each cable and assumed that the full weight was born by the hook.
The results led me to use a jumbo hook with a five pound capacity and it had not fallen down after 2 days.
And if this problem had nerd-sniped you a la Xkcd and you want to show off, this is the problem I faced.
From left to right:
Long headphone cable
Headphone cable held down on desk by a tissue box
Dell monitor with USB 3 and HDMI cables plugged in
USB cable supported by a pile of paper
Headphone cable, USB cable, HDMI cable wrapped together with a velcro strip
Two speaker cables plugged into a USB dac and amp
Another velcro strip
Headphone cable and USB cable connected to USB hub and different USB dac plugged into the hub
Velcro wrap holding the HDMI cable and two speaker cables together
Hook that falls down
Speaker cables dangle down to the floor
HDMI cable dangles loosely from the hook (not connected on most days)
(I am fairly certain that if you read this far, you ought to be doing something more useful than being nerd sniped by a physics problem.)
I generally agree with the sentiment, but in some cases I’ve found asking people for help is more effective since
a) they can give you specific assistance relative to your situation.
b) you can ask them follow up questions if you get stuck.
For example I live in an area where the developer built 50 identical houses. I’d much rather ask the neighbors how they did a DIY project than google, because I know their experience is directly relevant to me.
Good point; complex, real world questions/problems are often not Googleable, but I suspect a lot of time is spent dealing with mundane, relatively non-complex problems. Even in your example, I bet there is something useful to be learned from Googling “DIY cabinet instructions” or whatever.
I have a real world example.
Last week, I noticed a 3M Command Wire Hook kept falling down. Trivial fixes like cleaning the wall as described in the instructions did not work.
I tried to search for information about calculating the total load that is placed on the hook by 5 cables with different lengths and diameter along with various points of support.
After about fifteen to thirty minutes of trying to figure out statics (with no formal training besides the standard introductory college physics classes), I gave up. Then, I searched for information about the likely weight of each cable and assumed that the full weight was born by the hook.
The results led me to use a jumbo hook with a five pound capacity and it had not fallen down after 2 days.
And if this problem had nerd-sniped you a la Xkcd and you want to show off, this is the problem I faced.
From left to right:
Long headphone cable
Headphone cable held down on desk by a tissue box
Dell monitor with USB 3 and HDMI cables plugged in
USB cable supported by a pile of paper
Headphone cable, USB cable, HDMI cable wrapped together with a velcro strip
Two speaker cables plugged into a USB dac and amp
Another velcro strip
Headphone cable and USB cable connected to USB hub and different USB dac plugged into the hub
Velcro wrap holding the HDMI cable and two speaker cables together
Hook that falls down
Speaker cables dangle down to the floor
HDMI cable dangles loosely from the hook (not connected on most days)
(I am fairly certain that if you read this far, you ought to be doing something more useful than being nerd sniped by a physics problem.)