[2023] Game needs a return to learning by doing

Originally posted by Jeff: How does using a spear to poke zombies for a while suddenly give you the insight you need to make a better spear? I completely agree that the more you use a spear, the better you should get at using that spear more effectively but that has no bearing on how to make a better quality spear. Should you tie the stone on differently or sharpen the stone a different way or what? This is usually figured out by trial and error if you don't have research materials that you can refer to.

I suppose if you wanted to tie the quality of you spear to the number of times you craft a spear, that might make sense. Just poking zombies with a spear won't teach you much about how to manufacture a better quality one.

Simple. When you're actually using and tuned in with your tool, You can more easily think of ways it could be better.

The handles too rough, the handle is shaped wrong and doesnt feel good in the hand, the angle of the edges on the pointy bit are too broad so it doesn't pierce well, the whole head is too short so it's more blunt than pointed and you should use a longer stone instead of a short squat one, the handle doesn't bind well to the head maybe a different method of lashing the two together will be better- Stuff like that.

Literally, that's how we as a species went from using basic flint rocks to rocks strapped to sticks to begin with- "How could this be better" is the fundamental drive behind technological advances, and you know best how something can be improved when you're very involved with it and know first hand it's shortcomings and strengths so you can remove the former and enhance the latter.