History Main / TaughtByExperience

[[{{XKCD}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/xkcd242_7013.png]]
[[caption-width:393:ForScience!]]

Truth In Television: want to learn German, live in Germany. Want to learn Japanese, go to Japan. Hard work is still needed to get to a well rounded skill level you need, because there's no guarantee that learning by experience will cover every critical area. And on the other side the pure academic approach doesn't account for the "street smarts" and variations not found in the classroom. Let's just say there is a good reason why a leader needs to know what it is like at ground zero.

** 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 alog the same lines. And that is not what House wants in an assistant.

Some people [[BadassBookworm learn by reading]]. Some people [[AwesomeByAnalysis learn by observation]]. Some people [[TaughtByTelevision learn off the telly.]] Some people [[TeamFortress2 build ridiculously overpowered guns]]. And then there are those who just '''have''' to grab the electric fence...

* All those commercials you see on TV for culinary schools that say, "Become a chef?" Yeah, about that... no actual working chef will consider you anything other than a cook until you've spent several years actually working the trade, including at least some of those years actually ''running'' the restaurant (or at least the kitchen of the restaurant) you're working in. Until then, you're nothing but a line-cook with a degree.

** And, to be honest, 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.

In VideoGames, especially RPG's, this is what they are trying to replicate with ExperiencePoints. Especially in the more complicated leveling methods where as you perform a certain type of action, the more points you get to allocate to that skill area.

See also the SortingAlgorithmOfEvil. Compare/constrast HardWorkHardlyWorks, SinkOrSwimMentor and WaxOnWaxOff.

* ''Platoon'' has Charlie Sheens character develop from a shell shocked recruit fresh from basic training into a capable soldier...unfortunately.

* ''Tropa de Elite'' combined this with TrainingFromHell: The latter half of a room-clearing obstacle course is actually a part of a real slum with real assault-rifle-toting criminals.

* Implied in the movie ''{{Sahara}}''. Dirk and Al [[MacGyvering MacGyver]] a boat to explode (LongStory), 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...

* Why every highly-placed job demands a certain number of years of experience in a relevant field.

** That's not what leads to House firing him, though. He liked the guy. It's just that the janitor did not have his own ideas and just agreed with whatever House suggested. And that is not what House wants in an assistant.

Some people [[BadassBookworm learn by reading]]. Some people [[AwesomeByAnalysis learn by observation]]. Some people [[TaughtByTelevision learn off the telly.]] Some people [[TeamFortress2 build ridiculously over powered guns]]. And then there are those who just '''have''' to grab the electric fence...

* Mugen from ''SamuraiChamploo'' has a bizarre [[DanceBattler fighting style]]. Jin (who is a classically trained samurai) even notes how his style is [[AwesomeButImpractical completely impractical]], yet is one of the few men he 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.

* Mugen from ''SamuraiChamploo'' has a bizarre DanceBattler fighting style. Jin (who is a classically trained samurai) even notes how his style is [[AwesomeButImpractical completely impractical]], yet is one of the few men he 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 KatekyoHitmanReborn, 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'' BigBad, [[spoiler: Byakuran]].

* UnknownArmies allows players to put a free point into a skill on a matched roll.

* 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.

* In the first DevilMayCry (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...[[UnexpectedGenreChange well, except the last one.]] [[ThatOneBoss S]][[ThatOneAttack h]][[MoreDakka a]][[RailShooter m]][[FrickinLaserBeams e]]...

* The OrderOfTheStick 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.

* The Dimensional Guardians from the web fiction serial DimensionHeroes 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 [[BecomingABetterWriter 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 [[SuperheroSchool Whateley Academy]] in the WhateleyUniverse is to teach new mutants how to control and use their powers, and ''defend themselves'', even if they don't want to be superheroes or supervillains. Even a mage as powerful as Fey has to learn control, and all those spells. And PK bricks like Lancer have to learn how not to wreck everything they touch.

* [[ {{Mythbusters}} Adam Savage's]] mantra: "failure is always an option", which he explains as meaning that even a failure is data that we can learn from.

Some people [[BadassBookworm learn by reading]]. Some people [[AwesomeByAnalysis learn by observation]]. Some people [[TaughtByTelevision learn off the telly.]] And then there are those who just '''have''' to grab the electric fence...

* The BatmanTheAnimatedSeries movie ''[[TheMovie Mask of the Phantasm]]'' had Bruce perform his first night as a vigilante in black clothes and a ski mask, yelling out police commands. He had all the training and gadgetry, but didn't really understand Batman's foundation of fear and intimidation. This is what leads him to being [[strike:one of the]] ''the'' staple of CrazyPrepared. This aspect of the movie was a homage to Batman: Year One, which used essentially the same thing.

-->"I don't fail. I succeed in finding what doesn't work."

--->Stark: ''"Oooh, this looks important!"'' '''rrriip'''

* In [[BecomingABetterWriter Demonic Symphony]] this is given as a reason for Derek’s [[http://becomingabetterwriter.wordpress.com/2009/04/15/demonic-symphony-scene-029/ continued survival]]

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/xkcd242_7013.png
[[caption-width:393:[[{{xkcd}} The Difference.]]]]

* In [[BecomingABetterWriter Demonic Symphony]] this is given as a reason for Derek’s [[http://becomingabetterwriter.wordpress.com/2009/04/15/demonic-symphony-scene-029/ continued survival]]

[[folder:TabletopGames]]
* UnknownArmies allows players to put a free point into a skill on a matched roll.
* Continuum's skill system is explicitly built on this, with points accruing each time the skill is rolled if players don't decide to [[TimeTravel take a short cut]]
* [[XtremeKoolLetterz Sykers]] in ''{{Deadlands}}: Hell on Earth'' took years to train [[AfterTheEnd Before The End]], with new PsychicPowers being added to a SuperSoldier's repertoire once every year or so, on average. It's possible for {{Player Character}}s to ''become'' sykers much more quickly, to say nothing of adding new abilities. What's the difference? [[WordOfGod Experience.]] Keeping your melon intact while the horrors of [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the Apocalypse]] are breathing down your neck teaches you damn good. Or you die. Either way, [[FalseReassurance you'll have learned something]]!
*It's an unofficial but often-suggested rule in ''TheWorldOfDarkness'' that you can only spend experience points on skills or abilities you either used in the sessions that ''got'' you the points or put some foundation work in on (for new abilities), or which you have at least been using frequently.
** Pretty much all games suggest either that or require you to burn time training between adventures, how often this is enforced varies from group to group though.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* [[DresdenFiles Harry Dresden's]] magical arsenal changes between books from his observations of what works and what doesn't. After getting his left hand burnt into uselessness because his shield spell stops matter and kinetic energy but not heat, he devises a new shield that stops just about everything (including heat, light, electricity, most sorts of magic, etc). After seeing Elaine's taser-chain trick in ''White Night'', he comes up for his own version for when fire magic isn't such a good idea.
**Oh, and teaching his apprentice how to do magic gives him a LOT of ideas. And there's his upgraded 'knock people around' ring...
[[/folder]]

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