“…can be picked apart and combined in different and more interesting ways.”

Analysis and Synthesis. I agree that analysis is indeed the more general skill. Synthesis takes special drive to do it and special talent to be good at it. (Channeling John Boyd there.)

My experience is that instructions are written for morons. Example: Buy an office chair. It comes “packed” in a cardboard box. First they want you to inventory the contents of the box in case some employee left some of the parts out. Next take “base A” and insert “rod B” into it (but do not tighten the screw). Then assemble “back of seat C” to “seat bottom D”. Give me a break! Assembly is not that hard. Just take it out and look at the various parts. If someone could not figure it out visually, then would you want them working for you? I would not.
The trouble with life is people are looking for a given way to live it, being told when to jump and how high. We hire people to do the stupidest things for us. If we are “blue” or “without motivation” we take depression medications at a very expensive price. We go and pay a doctor to set us up with mind control drugs so we won’t commit suicide, or want to commit suicide. Get over it! Get a hold on it! You dont need instructions or drugs. In life or any other task, the key word here is RESPONSIBILITY. Personal responsibility for your life. We live in the greatest country in the world. We have everything given to us if we dont want to work for it. Our government stands ready to be our daddy if we are too unmotivated or lazy or spun out on recreational drugs to live our lives ourselves. My personal reality kicked in when the Drill Instructor said “GET OFF MY BUS, YOU MAGGOTS!”. The DI handed out “no” instructions, hints or suggestions, and you knew you sank or swam on your two feet for the next 14 weeks. Since that day, life has been easy.

I agree with HSpencer, too many ppl put their mind on idle and let the others take it for them.

Too many people brought up to be sheep.

You have to follow the directions because that’s the way it’s done.

You have to further your career, buy a nice house, get 2.5 kids and a good spouse.
Because that’s what everyone else does.

That is considered normal.

How dare you think outside the box!!

Love the blog!

Yes I am a follower of instructions and I pass them along to my friends who appear “lost.” I have always been this way. I grew up in a household where I was to follow instructions from my parents or there would be punishment. I was not allowed to voice my opinions. I was instructed to go to collge, major in business and this will get me a good job and good money. I did that and it worked. When I was in college, I was instructed to go to the career center and apply for a job. I followed and it worked. I have worked for 3 Fortune 500 companies since then, and I went through various training programs (instructions on how to do my job) and I followed and have always been considered a top employee. that worked, too. Now I realize that when it comes to jobs, I am pretty much a robot and have no creativity at all. I’ve always been unhappy in my job and now I know why. Looking back, I don’t think its a good idea to follow instructions. Yes, I make a great living, but my jobs are always boring. I even find myself passing along instructions that have worked for me, to all of my friends…especially in personal finance…have an emergency fund, invents in index funds…live below your means, abolish debt…etc….how do i get out of this? I probably still follow instructions b/c it has always been successful for me…I wouldn’t know what to do if I didn’t have instructions….Help!!

Jacob,

Wonderful post. I’ve worked in education for almost 10 years–well, I guess even more than that in the private sphere. I love teaching, but I find giving instructions to be one of the most boring, mind-numbing experiences both for me and for my students.

A fun way that I prefer to teach is through examples, experiments and questions. Watch this, try this, what happens if you do this?, practice this, can you figure out how to do this? What does it mean?

When you figure it out for yourself it sticks with you better anyway. Spelling things out for people is so boring and obnoxious–it makes me want to do anything else–anything.

It’s funny though, people can get really frustrated when you let them struggle a little bit and have them figure things out on their own. It’s what educators call a level of ‘tolerance for ambiguity.’ Mine is very high.

My understanding is that the tolerance for ambiguity varies between individuals and cultures. In some environments, people are so scared to delve into the unknown, that I’ve found it’s best if I tell people upfront–“I won’t let you walk out of here clueless, but struggling to find the answer is good for you, so try for the next 10 minutes and then I’ll tell you.” This helps with the fear factor. Also, people who are punished for deviating or for taking initiative are very wary of not following instructions–duh.

I find a need for constant detailed instructions is just another form of addiction. Anyone can live without them, it just takes practice and a little positive reinforcement.

I never built what LEGO had on the box. I just immediately added them to my collection and built whatever I wanted. Of course, combining LEGOS with Tinkertoys made for the ultimate building material.

I have a fairly high tolerance for figuring things out without instructions, but a fairly low tolerance for figuring out instructions.

At some point we will have so many instructions/rules/guidelines the weight will cause society to collapse. You almost need a full time lawyer, accountant, financial planner, and general researcher on call at all the times to survive in the prescribed way.

@sassy saver – on some levels I am like you – never worked at that high level, but was given strict instructions for a formula for life from dad. It wasn’t bad, but didn’t address my creative side which was struggling to get out. Once I started acting on my creative impulses I was so much happier, but this made it difficult when I went to grad school and had to follow the regime again.

“Creative impulses” being anything from learning to sew my own clothes, cross stitch, knitting, etc., to extended backpacking trips (often solo) to working with the Forest Service in Alaska.
I try to follow through as much as possible on the impulses because I fear I will become stagnant and not have the creativity or courage to do new things as I get older. I have no role models for this at least in my family – I make it up as I go. My life is not what my family considers a success in the traditional term, but I don’t care. I would never live in a big suburban house and they would never sleep in the woods on the ground

My only concern is continuing to find a way to financially support myself while I pursue my creative endeavors. As Jacob mentioned, pick something with a creative bent and just go for it. Soon you’ll start thinking of all sorts of things you want to do.

Cute post. I’m exactly like that (incl. the Lego). I get a huge kick out of having a smart/creative idea or solution. I bet that everyone reading this blog loves at the very least the creativity/genious behind retiring in just 5 years. So the first thing I did on this blog was search feverishly for his ‘secret’.

@sassy saver: I wouldn’t throw overboard all those rules – most are probably good -, just look for a little exitement to spice up your days. Look for excitement, and when you see it, follow it. Be prepared to question any excuses that come up at that point (as a result from those rules) and you’ll do well.

@mattg – I often wonder whether there’s a certain ideal ratio between iconoclasts and conformist for a long-lived society. Obviously, it can not be too volatile, but it can not be too stagnant either. So some relaxation factor …

MMM…Lego’s…I’m also older than Jacob and legos for me came in squares and rectangles only and in white and red with a gray base plate you used if you wanted to build “houses” or other things. None of the fancy colors or shapes they have today.

Another toy I thoroughly enjoyed was an Erector Set…I believe called “Mechanno” in Europe. Lots of flat tin “girders” of all sizes and shapes with lots of screws and nuts, shafts and pullys and even an electric motor so you could make things that actually moved…like a ferris wheel.

Haven’t seen one of them in years…time to play on Google…LOL!!

@FrugalZen

Mecanno was great fun – playing with it was like being an engineer, while playing with LEGO was more like being an architect.

That used to be my dream job – why did I let the 7 years of study required put me off?

It’s not all that rare to build other things from Lego sets than just what the instructions describe. I did it, all my friends did it, all the little kids today who play with Lego that I know do it. The only exception might be some of the smaller themed sets which don’t offer much room for creativity.

@HSpencer Sometimes I follow the instructions on those packages and still mess it up. It doesn’t make me an idiot. I’d get off your high horse for a minute.

I am sorry that Kelsi never got to play with Lego but it is never too late.

Lego is the only toy I kept that my children used that I will enjoy using with my future grandchildren. I will encourage them to sort by size and not colour.