When learning something new do you follow the instructor or tutorial to the letter, or do you quickly start going your own way?

For me, especially when it comes to computer stuff, I’ll start off slow and steady, following the directions, but my brain quickly starts firing up and I’ll go off in different directions via experimentation. I’m going to make up a story and take some license, but really, this is pretty much what happens every time!

Let’s say I’m in a classroom learning a 3D program (THANK YOU RealEyesLies!) The instructor starts showing us how to build a barn, step by step. All the other students are following, step by step. The next thing I know I’m jumping ahead, on my own, teaching myself things they haven’t gotten to yet. The instructor might realize, by my body language or whatever, that I’m not quite in tune with the class.

He’ll say, “We just learned to build a doorway. Did you build a doorway?”

Me, “Yes. And I put in a cool window. And steps, even though barns really shouldn’t have steps. My barn has steps. But the steps need to be mowed. But I guess the cows can eat the grass on the steps as they go in. But the barn caught on fire and the firemen came and put it out and now it’s flooded, so I have to build a drain now. Wait. I need to spin it around (instructor hasn’t shown the class how to rotate yet) because the drain should come out the back, don’t you think? OK, I have my drain in. How do I make it look like there is water coming out of the drain? Or maybe I could just put fish in the barn, like a giant aquarium. Lets see…how would I do that?”

Well, the instructor and the rest of the class would be just staring at me. He’ll come over to see what I’ve done. The rest of the class has identical barns, with a door and a roof line. They’ll be just the black, 3D outlines. My barn, on the other hand, looks like this

Instructor “Da fuck iz zat???”

“It’s a barn, man! I know, I know. I gotta get rid of the steps. And I hosed up the roof line somehow, but I can fix it. And I need to make the doors wider or we’ll never get the tractor in. But right now what I really need is some fish.”

“Are you already familiar with this program?”

“No. This is the first 3D program I’ve ever worked on.”

Without fail, in a classroom setting, I’ll get a grin from the teacher and a “carry on!”

In the real world, not so much. :(

Do you do the same thing? Or am I just crazy?