Taught By Experience: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"A learning experience is one that tells you, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.'"''|'''[[Douglas Adams]]'''}}
Some people [[Badass Bookworm|learn by reading]]. Some people [[
The human mind is an interesting thing. When we put our hand on a hot burner or put a penny in a lightsocket, what's left of us tends to not want to do that anymore. We learn from our mistakes.
Characters in a story usually begin their journey with little actual experience in the [[Real Life|real world]]. Somewhere along the way, they figure out how to manage. There is usually something either said or implied that being in a constant life or death situation has forced them to find some way to survive. By default, they usually become damn good at it.
When the time for action has come, the time for preparation has passed. Sometimes your [[Training
This is a staple of [[MacGyvering]], the devices they make work because they ''have'' to. The [[Crazy Prepared]] person is either this way because of past experience, or because they want to avoid the bruises associated with it. And this is implied with a person who has [[Seen It All]]
[[Truth in Television]]: want to learn German, live in Germany. Want to learn Japanese, go to Japan. Git gud or else, like a mundane version of [[Die or Fly]]. Hard work is still needed to get to a well
In [[Video Games]], especially RPGs, this is what they are trying to replicate with [[Experience Points]], especially in the more complicated leveling methods where [[Stat Grinding|performing an action repeatedly gives you more points to allocate to that skill area]].
See also the [[Sorting Algorithm of Evil]]. Compare/contrast [[Hard Work Hardly Works]], [[The Only Way They Will Learn]], [[Sink or Swim Mentor]], and [[Wax On, Wax Off]].
{{examples
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Mugen from ''[[Samurai Champloo]]'' has a bizarre [[Dance Battler|fighting style]]. Jin (who is a classically trained samurai) even notes how his style is [[Awesome but Impractical|completely impractical]], yet is one of the few men Jin could not kill easily. Mugen made mention that he grew up in very violent conditions, (living in a prison colony and being a prisoner himself) which forced him to figure out that style on his own. It works for him.
** In the final two parter, the two two face off against Kariya. Mugan goes first and Kariya notes that while his movement make his swordplay unpredictable it leaves too many openings that a trained swordsman can easily get through. Adding that Mugan need to learn to adapt more in certain conditions. In the final battle he takes this to heart which allows him to off Umanosuke by using his scythe against him.
* A foundation of ''[[Dragonball Z]]''. Doing some [[Training
* ''[[Spirited Away]]'' uses this in the classic gentle [[Studio Ghibli]] way. Chihiro has to fend for herself. She has friends, but the story is about how she grows during the process.
* The first season of ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'' was a fairly ridiculous case: Nanoha became a mage when she was handed her [[Empathic Weapon]] and defeated the first [[Monster of the Week]]. She does this ''after school'', and without ''any'' training, she's stronger than another talented mage that had been training for his entire life ''within a week''. Then within a few weeks, she's an elite [[Rank Inflation|A rank]] mage firing a [[Wave Motion Gun]] from her staff. The manga actually provided a [[Hand Wave]] that she used said weapon to go through [[Training
** Also, it helps that she's crazy talented. Specifically, she's naturally ''powerful'', which means that she can make up for her lack of skill via sheer brute force when she needs to, [[Heroic RROD|though she would pay for doing that too much in time]].
* In ''[[Pokémon (
** Ironic as he kept using Pikachu on Team Rocket, despite them using something that's shock proof (which they've done since, what, the fifth time he faced them? Out of [[Over Nine Thousand]]?) As Meowth pointed out in one episode, "You'd think he'd learn by now".
* ''Vagabond'' is about how [[Miyamoto Musashi]] goes from a naturally gifted [[Hot
* Generally, most of the cast in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' opt for [[Training
{{quote|''"Surviving for hundreds of years ain't just for show, you know."''|Chachazero}}
**
** After Negi's and {{spoiler|Rakan's}} match, some of the fans started quarreling about who was better. A fight broke out. Onlookers started betting on the outcome. {{spoiler|The draw had the highest stake.}}
* Parodied in ''[[Ranma
** On a funny note, it didn't teach Genma anything, as he tried to "cure" Ranma's phobia by throwing him in the bin ''again'' (this time with sardines).
* Guts of ''[[Berserk]]'' has spent his entire life fighting from childhood on. While his training as a mercenary from childhood made him quite the badass against any human he met, the skills that he acquired in [[Demon Slaying]] were born out of pure experience, desperation and survival instinct, his first experience being with Zodd, then with Wyald after Griffith's rescue, and then with {{spoiler|a whole mess of monsters from hell out to eat him alive during the Eclipse}}.
* In ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]'', the entire point of {{spoiler|setting up Shoichi Irie as the main enemy of the Future Arc, and having the Vongola storm Merone Base}} was so that they would gain more strength in order to defeat the ''true'' [[Big Bad]], {{spoiler|Byakuran}}.
* Yuu from ''[[Holyland]]'' does this most of the time fighting on the street. Sometimes he has to be manually taught by others, but mostly he figures it out by this. For example, he used what he learned fighting a judoka to know what to look out for against another grappler and started using more kicks after he found that he was damaging his hand from over-reliance on his fists.
* In ''[[
== [[Film]] ==
* ''[[Cast Away]]'' is a great demonstration of this. A pudgy Tom Hanks struggled for a while figuring out how to hunt for food, gather water, and build a fire. After a large [[Time Skip]], you see him slimmed down and very efficient at all of those, in addition to making his own rope.
* ''Platoon'' has Charlie Sheen's character develop from a shell shocked recruit fresh from basic training into a capable soldier...unfortunately.
* ''[[Star Wars]]'': Luke Skywalker's advancement in [[The Force]] can be attributed to this. Without the classic training of the monk-like Jedi, he learned by improvisation and [[Artificial Limbs|sometimes hard lessons.]]
* ''[[Iron Man (
** Whereas {{spoiler|Stane can't hit the broad side of a barn once his targeting computers are... "disabled". }}
{{quote|
*** To say nothing of {{spoiler|the "icing problem"}}.
{{quote|
'''Stark:''' {{spoiler|"Might want to look into it!"}} }}
** Carried into ''[[The Avengers (
* Despite having "teaching machines" they could use, in ''[[Battlefield Earth]]'' the humans decided to just learn to fly jets through experience. And they do it well enough to actually pose a reasonable challenge to the Psyclos.
* ''[[The Elite Squad]]'' (aka ''Tropa de Elite'') combined this with [[Training
* ''[[Batman Begins]]'' uses this entirely as its main story. Bruce went through the training, and when he came to forming the mantle of "Batman", it was from picking up his mistakes. After getting a military combat suit, he found that he needed something to soften a fall, which leads to the glider-cape. After getting gased by the Scarecrow, even though he was now innoculated against the effects, he was fully aware of what Crane was going to do. As Alfred used as a [[Call Back]] quote from Bruce's father, "Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up."
** ''The Dark Knight'' continues with this, as Bruce found the original Batman suit not holding up to the demands he was putting into it. He commissioned a new suit that addressed various limitations he found, such as a limited range of motion including the [[Mythology Gag|inability to turn his head.]]
* Implied in the movie ''[[Sahara]]''. Dirk and Al [[MacGyvering]] a boat to explode ([[Long Story]]), with a quick explanation that despite them calling it "The Panama Maneuver," they were actually in Nicaragua. After the boat explodes, an amazed side character asks the duo how they got it to work right the first time. Dirk sheepishly admits that it ''didn't'' work the first time...
* The movie ''[[Apollo 13]]'', while the ill-fated crew was stuck in space, they needed to temporarily move from the command module to the lunar
{{quote|
** And a [[An Aesop|lesson was learned]] about [[Boring but Practical|making everything compatible with each other]].
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== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''. This, along with a heaping helping of natural talent, is subliminally given as the reason why Willow went from a newbie in magic to becoming the worlds most powerful witch in the space of four years.
** Wesley from ''[[Angel]]'' defines his [[Took a Level
** Gunn, also from ''[[Angel]]'', learned this way before we even met him. He led an urban vampire hunting team made up entirely of local gangs. He had apparently been doing it for years and has had a relatively high life expectation compared to the better funded Watchers council and even the various Slayers.
*** Arguably, Buffy herself. She goes from having trouble with 2-3 vampires in Season 1, to killing 20 at once with a giant stake in Season 5.
* ''[[Power Rangers]]'' lives upon this trope. Don't believe me? ''[[Two Words]]''. ''Red Rookie''.
* ''[[Scrubs]]'' has this throughout its entire run, but most notably in the first episode where J.D. is afraid to even touch a patient. Dr. Cox became his unwilling mentor when he dropped the cold truth on him and forced him to get the job done.
{{quote|
* ''[[
* Inverted with a character on ''[[House (TV series)|House]]''. An applicant for House's diagnostic team was revealed to not have actually gone to med school. He worked as a janitor at the college and audited every class multiple times, and so had a large understanding of the textbooks and medical theory. But he never actually worked with patients or was actually trained to do certain procedures, not to mention didn't even have a medical license. Sneaking around that limitation is what led to House figuring out his secret.
** That's not what leads to House firing him, though. He liked the guy. It's just that the janitor had the same ideas as House and thought pretty much along the same lines. And that is not what House wants in an assistant.
** The whole "janitor as doctor" thing is likely a callback to an earlier episode where House tries to pass a janitor as a doctor to a patient.
** It could even be a call back to House's own origin where he once observed a hospital janitor in Japan who, while being a social minority and despised for it, was deferred to by his social better because he was so knowledgeable about medicine he garnered their respect. It' unlikely the man every attended a medical school, leaving the trope as the most likely explanation of his expertise.
* ''[[Stargate SG
== [[Stand Up Comedy]] ==
* This seems to be a theme in Christopher Titus's work.
{{quote|
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* ''Any'' game based on strategy. You can read all the "How to Play Chess" books you want, but you'll never really understand the game until you actually play it and get your butt kicked repeatedly.
* ''[[
* Continuum's skill system is explicitly built on this, with points accruing each time the skill is rolled if players don't decide to [[Time Travel|take a short cut]]
* [[Xtreme Kool Letterz|Sykers]] in ''[[Deadlands]]: Hell on Earth'' took years to train [[After the End|Before The End]], with new [[Psychic Powers]] being added to a [[Super Soldier]]'s repertoire once every year or so, on average. It's possible for [[Player Character
* When making a unit in [[
* It's an unofficial but often-suggested rule in ''[[
* Happens a lot with experimental equipment in ''[[Paranoia]]''. Just because you have security clearance to test the equipment doesn't mean you have security clearance to ''read the instructions''.
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* Every [[RPG]] ''ever''. Full stop. In some point-buy systems you can get smarter by kicking ass.
** And conversely in some you can learn how to be kick-assier by reading books.
* The ''Quest For Glory'' series both subverts and plays this one straight. In the first game, you get to define the abilities your character starts with, and each class has specific skills that can or cannot be used. The only way to increase skill in something is to use that skill (which makes sense: you get better at climbing by climbing stuff, better at swordplay by swinging your sword and so on). The subversion comes later in the series, starting with the third game, where the Thief character can be taught the acrobatics skill and immediately becomes proficient in it within seconds (though not necessarily ''good'' at it, that takes practice). In the fourth game, Fighter and Paladin characters can read a book and instantly learn how to climb. Mages subvert this from the first game: finding a magic scroll and reading it ''instantly'' imparts the spell to the mage, although it is at a low skill level. At least half of every game in the series (there are five) is spent just practicing your skills.
** The skill level system itself is very vague. Having 10 points in Weapon Use means you can use your weapon, but you'll miss a lot, whereas having 100 points ([[Level Cap|in the first game,]] at least) means you'll rarely miss...but you'll ''still'' miss occasionally. Generally speaking, it's possible to complete the game with low skill levels (depending on the skill and the character, of course), but certainly not recommended. Getting that [[Last Lousy Point]] in a particular game can also be a frustrating experience, since skills level up slower as they reach the [[Level Cap]]. [[Quest for Glory]] 5 completely subverts the skill system, however: as long as you're the right class, you can do anything in which you have skill. The numerical values mean very little.
* In the first ''[[Devil May Cry]]'' (not so much the sequels), files are kept on every enemy encountered, and descriptions of their attacks as well. For every new attack you witness, another section is added, usually with an explanation on how to stop/avoid it. Oh, and by the way, there are files on BOSSES, too...[[Unexpected Genre Change|well, except the last one.]] [[That One Boss|S]][[That One Attack|h]][[More Dakka|a]][[Rail Shooter|m]][[Frickin' Laser Beams|e]]...
* In [[Monster Hunter]], there are no [[Experience Points]] to speak of... the experience belongs to the '''player'''. An experienced player with horrible newbie gear can and will be more successful than a newbie with great gear.
* Much like Monster Hunter above, [[
* A case of a boss who does this in-game: Mr Freeze in [[Batman: Arkham City]] seems at first like a typical "impervious unless attacked in a certain way, but never learns to cover that weakness" sort of boss. Turns out he isn't; each sneaky trick Batman can use on him [[It Only Works Once|will only work once]] because he will alter his attack pattern to cover that particular weakness, forcing the player to do the same: [[Creepy Monotone|"I can adapt my strategies, Batman. Can you?"]]
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* The ''[[Order of the Stick]]'' prequel book "On The Origin Of PCs" deconstructs this trope by showing what happens if you take it too literally. Vaarsuvius, the future party wizard, is lamenting how his ascent to power is taking too long. Her friend Haley, the future rogue, tells him that if she wants to get more powerful, he should just become an adventurer. V brushes this off, saying that killing monsters isn't going to teach her more about magic and the workings of the universe. Haley points out that she recently killed a bunch of kobolds during an adventure, and when she got back to town she was better at picking locks.
{{quote|
Haley: Hey, it might! You haven't seen some of the things growing in my kitchen; I wouldn't put language skills past them. }}
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* The Dimensional Guardians from the web fiction serial ''[[Dimension Heroes]]'' are more or less bumbling fools when they first stumble upon their Guardian powers, but gradually learn to control them as they fight, to the point that they're able to take down a dark force that threatens their very dimension.
* In ''[[Becoming a Better Writer|Demonic Symphony]]'' this is given as a reason for Derek’s [http://becomingabetterwriter.wordpress.com/2009/04/15/demonic-symphony-scene-029/ continued survival]
* The whole point of [[Super
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'': The entire show covers a little under one year, yet Aang learned three other bending practices, Sokka became a <s> skilled</s> passable swordsman, Zuko increases his firebending and Katara has become a virtual waterbending goddess. Sozin's comet gives them added incentive. On another note, this is the reason Toph learned metalbending - because she ''really'' wanted to get out of a metal box.)
* The ''[[Batman:
** ''[[Batman Beyond]]'' sees Bruce's then-protege Terry go through a long process to learn how to properly be Batman. Early on he is dependent on [[Clothes Make the Superman|his batsuit]] to survive; later episodes sees him learning from the constant hazards to the point that he's perfectly capable without it.
* Subverted by Ed in ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]'' with his inability to grasp the concept of a fridge light despite a whole night of experiments:
** Ed: ''Hello light...Hello light...Hello light...''
*** In fairness, his was the question of whether the light turns off when you shut the door. It's just that his "experiment" (opening and closing the door) had no way of working and he was too stupid to devise something else.
* ''[[Superman:
* In the first sesion of ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' the title character has little control of his powers and has trouble taking on the weakest of his enemies. After three sesions of fighting, he is able to hold his own against the ghost gods.
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== [[Real Life]] ==
* Steve Irwin aka the [[Crocodile Hunter]] learned most of what he knew about wildlife, especially crocodiles and snakes, from his father and from working with and growing up around them in his family's wildlife park from a very young age.
* Bruce Lee developed the
** One of his instructors, Kenpo Grandmaster Ed Parker, was fond of teaching with this trope and even used it on Lee. One time when Lee was practicing a stance, Parker insisted the stance didn't work and showed him by repeatedly knocking him over with a wooden board saying if his stance worked, the board would not knock him over. Lee quickly let Parker show him an alternate stance to use.
** This applies to martial arts or any other kind of melee combat in general. Getting jumped for real and having to make someone kiss the asphalt before he does it to you is, for better or for worse, the fastest but potentially most painful way of learning what really works in a fight and what doesn't. Even for the rest of us who would rather not risk getting mugged or beaten to death, while the ring or octagon with its rules and referees might still fall short of what a "real" fight is like, full-contact, full-speed sparring against noncompliant opponents is still better than just doing drills and forms, because no amount of the latter will remotely recreate what it's like to actually face someone who won't obediently stand still after the first blocked punch and let you finish a complex choreographed combo, but will instead do his best to punch you in the face.
* The British Navy in the 18th and early 19th centuries put men off the streets aboard its ships of war and left it up to the officers to train them for sailing and combat. Likewise, midshipmen went aboard as children and were taught the requisite mathematics, navigation, and seamanship required to see them past their promotional exams by senior officers or, if they were unlucky, a schoolmaster or chaplain of some description.
* This is also why licensing for certain trades, including electricians, plumbers, and HVACers (at least commonly in the USA), requires one not only to pass a fairly lengthy test, but to have an already licensed master electrician, plumber, or HVACer vouch that you've had 2 years of apprenticeship working on the job under them. There're some things you can only learn by making that mistake on the job and having someone more experienced there to explain what went wrong/help you straighten out the mess/call the ambulance.
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** And to all those non-culinary types out there, yes, there is a ''tangible'' difference between a cook and a chef.
** And, to be honest, the degree is just a tool to get one's foot in the door. If you've had the aforementioned experience and spent several of those years of experience being taught by a working chef, you can skip the degree.
* [[
* Why every middle- or highly-placed job demands a certain number of years of experience in a relevant field. No amount of education or training, no matter how thorough the teaching, roleplaying and assessment provided, can fully capture all the hard lessons that can only be learnt through doing the work for real.
* [[Quentin Tarantino]] never went to film school - everything he learned came from making a film with his friends when he worked at a film archive, as well as [[Taught
* The famous Edison quote: "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."
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[[Category:Skills and Training Tropes]]
[[Category:Truth in Television]]
[[Category:
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