Training Wheels Syndrome

(Note: This is an AI-assisted teaser for my prior manual writing. If you like it and want to read more details about this topic/perspective, then check out my 100% manually-written blog and books!)

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If you can’t solve a problem without looking at an example, you might have training wheels syndrome.

Training wheels are designed to do one thing: help beginners get started.
They’re not designed to stay on forever.
If you refuse to take them off, they become the very thing that’s limiting how fast you can ride.

Worked examples are the training wheels of math.
Use them when you’re first learning the motion. They help you get started, work efficiently, wrap your head around what you’re trying to do.

But once you’re going through the motion successfully, take them off.
Don’t let this good initial scaffolding hang around forever and turn into a crutch that you become dependent on and can’t move beyond.

Here's the 100% manually-written long-form that this teaser is distilled from, if you want to dive deeper: Who Needs Worked Examples? You, Eventually. .

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