The desire to be the best: Get trained or go alone?

[Dagger Dias]

Everybody wants to be the best at something. Better than all of their friends, and perhaps even one day become the best in the world at it. Some people find things they like and get trained by others to improve at those things, while others try going alone and learn without any training. Is it wrong to not want any training?

Those who choose to try to teach themselves to do something are labeled as arrogant or stupid by others. What if the person is SO confident in their abilities that they desire to become better all on their own, without any training? I'm not saying they begin on day one, practice a few hours, and suddenly arrive at a legendary status. That's not what I mean. I mean if they put in months/years of practice in and develop the abilities to succeed in their field of choice, all on their own, without anyone helping them, just because they ARE that good at it to begin with. I personally believe that everyone has an expertise of some sorts, that they could succeed in without any training. Others often disagree with me about this and say that everyone has to be trained somehow no matter how good they are, or else they will never succeed. What if the person truly IS good at that thing and is determined enough to learn it on their own because of how confident they are in their own ability? Prodigies do exist you know.

So where are your thoughts on this? Are there things out there that people could be good enough at that they could teach themselves and succeed in (given that they put in TONS of practice for years) without any training? Why or why not? Does this make them "arrogant" or "stupid" like they are often labeled?

 

[Ferbian]

I personally believe that the way to achieve proper greatness is to learn from others. Like Triple H said in his promo video during his work-out to prepare for Wrestlemania 22 against John Cena - I take from everything around me, and make it mine.

There's always something you can learn from someone else. How to do it right, how to not do it right etc. You learn from others experience.. It's like for example working out, or bodybuilding. You don't just go into that all by yourself, chances are you're gonna get hurt or something if you just assume you're doing it right but you're not.

Guidance, experience and overall support is the key to become the best. And all of this is gained by listening to others, taking from others knowledge. Not by doing it alone.

 

[Ultra Awesome]

What an interesting topic... Hmmm...To be honest, there are certain things in life that require no assistance from others. Simply playing video games; the way you get better at a certain game really depends on how much you play the game. You don't need assistance in it; all you really need is to devote time. Time along with practice gets you to where-ever it is you want to be at and how good you want to become at it.

However, just because you want to go at it alone, does not mean that you are arrogant or stupid. What makes you arrogant or stupid, is your attitude toward the given subject. It is different for one to say, "I need to practice alone because it helps me concentrate more" than it is to say "Fuck you! I can do this shit on my own." One can easily point out the difference in the two. Thereby, determining whether they are being arrogant and stuid or not.

On the other hand, there are certain activities that require the assistance of others just as Ferbian pointed out. If we go by what he mentioned, weight-lifting. Sure, it is possible to go at it alone. But the problem with that is you have no guidance. Say you have recently taken an interest in weight lifting; but you don't know the first thing about it to know where to start. What are you going to do? The most common thing is do research. However, if you have someone to help you out, someone who has had experience, they can easily show you the ropes and help you out on your quest to being the best. The "assist-er" can show you the basics and can correct you if you are not handling a dumbell (etc.) properly.

In my opinion, whether you go at it alone or have the guidance of someone else all depends on what type of activity you choose to do. Some activities do require assist from others, while others don't really. Whether you want the extra help or not is really up to you. Only difference is, if you go at it alone, chances are it will be harder.

As far as protegies go, some people are just by default better than others at certain activities. It's common fact really. However, just about anyone can reach whatever goal they want to achieve (as long as it's down to Earth of course) with enough time and practice. You just have a better chance of achieving it if you have some assistance...

 

[LigerBomb]

First off nothing exists in a vacuum. It's impossible to absolutely teach yourself anything without any outside help/interference as all existence truly is is perceived/interpreted of outside sensations/stimulus. Natural talent is so rare it's practically a myth unto itself. Worse yet, it becomes useless without refinement and a kind of disciplined dedication. You can't teach yourself what you don't already know, and in that sense knowing then becomes the cumulative result of the process of trial and error, rot repetition, accommodation and assimilation. Think of it as your basic faith or fear paradigm. It would more often than not be foolish to waste your valuable time i.e. life, repeating failures that have already been committed generations before. But then again every generation likes to believe in the ironic fantasy that they—and they alone—are unique, special little snowflakes, truly one of a kind, thus they have to learn for themselves, on their own terms and in their own time, that are sorely mistaken. If anything call it the arrogance and stupidity of youth rather than prodigious genius.

 

[Kashagi]

It really depends what you mean when you say getting help from others. If you are simply saying without lessons, or official training from a coach etc. Then sure, it is possible, I took a month of guitar lessons and have taught myself ever since. However if you mean without ANY outside help at all, then I still say its possible, just very stupid considering the alternatives. I could still have taught myself guitar, but without the chord charts, tabs etc. to help me out, I doubt I would have come as far as I have. I also suppose this would include songs as an outside source as well, imagine trying to learn without having heard anything!

You would have to be pretty damn arrogant and foolish to fall into the second category, it is almost impossible to become a master at something without outside help, even if its not professional coaching. For example, I am an avid player of Starcraft II, a fantastic real time strategy with a huge professional league, there are players who make careers out of this game, and it is so deep of a strategy game that even after over a decade there are still strategies being developed and introduced in the first one!

Personally I would say I am a good player, put me in Korea and I will get destroyed, but compared to players in my area and the general online players I have matched up with, I am good. I believe strongly in my abilities, that I am capable of some pretty fantastic strategies in hopeless situations, I have won games before with less then 10 troops available compared to my enemies 30-40. Yet I spend just as much time watching my replays, studying my opponents moves when I lose, exactly how I lost, borrowing techniques. I spend hours upon hours reading strategy theories from other players on teamliquid, I watch 5-10 professional matches a day, paying close attention to any techniques that may be of some use to me or to learn how to prepare against. If I did not spend so much time on these things rather then just playing, I wouldnt be half the player I am, just like I wouldnt be a tenth of the guitar player I am if I didnt have my chord sheets, tabs etc. And I wouldnt be looking into a career as a classical musician if it werent for the inspiration of amazing singers like the ones in my sig.

What I am saying is from my personal experience, even though a coach may not be essential (though it could be arguable in some instances), I wouldnt be half as good at singing, guitar, Starcraft etc. If it werent for outside sources, I needed the help and I cant see why someone would turn it down, or how they could reach their true potential without outside inspiration etc.