The ability to learn new things

[Hoot]

What makes some people capable of learning new things and others seemingly incapable?

 

I've been thinking about this lately.  About three months ago we bought a toaster oven.  I knew what one was but had never actually seen one in real life never mind knowing how to use it.  DH, on the other hand, had one growing up, though he had admittedly never used it for himself.

 

It took me 5 min. to figure out how to use it.  The controls are simple and intuitive, in my opinion.  DH, however, after 3 months, still can't figure it out despite both DS and myself standing with him multiple times and showing him how to use it.  At first, I thought it was just a ploy to get me to do it for him, but the other night after I had already gone to sleep, DH tried to use the toaster oven on his own and still couldn't do it correctly.

 

When this translates to education between otherwise equal students (meaning no overt learning disabilities) we often hear, "oh s/he's not wired for math" or "s/he just doesn't have the aptitude for reading." and it makes me wonder if there's something biologically sound to that or if it's just an excuse.  Supposing it isn't a learning challenge or damaged due to a brain injury, is it learned helplessness, weak neural pathways due to disuse, intentional closing off of new information in order to retain the status quo, or something else entirely?  Or, like most things, is it a combination of a variety of issues, some biological and some environmental, completely unique to each person?  Is there research on this?

 

   

[Χά�ων]

I have wondered this as well

[Another Lynn]

Do you think there's a relationship with the idea that some people are naturally "detail oriented" and others are more "global thinkers?" 

[Garga]

I wonder...my minivan has fan and temperature controls for the back seats. There are two knobs. One shows a picture of a fan and when you turn it, the fan blows more or less. The other shows a blue line changing to a red line. When you turn the knob into the fully blue area, it's cold. When you turn the knob into the fully red area, it's hot.

 

Someone (whose relationship to me will not be named, but she birthed my husband...), canNOT for the life of her figure out these controls. No, she doesn't mind sitting in the middle seats of the car, so it's not a protest about not being in the front, but she canNOT figure it out. Every time we get in the car and someone says, "Grandma, can you turn on the fan?" she stares at the two knobs baffled.

 

They work exactly the same as in Every Other Car on the Planet, only they're in the back and and not in the front. I have wondered what the heck is going on that she can't learn this "new" thing.

 

I don't know OP. I just don't know what happens. I hope it never happens to me. :(

[regentrude]

I think it is a question of really WANTING to learn the new thing.

There are things I "can not" learn - but the truth is that I have never given it any serious effort because there was no need. For example,I know nothing about plumbing repair, but I see no single reason why I should be incapable of learning how to do it if I gave it my fullest effort. I just don't, because that is something DH can do.

People will learn all kinds of things if they are forced to. I came to the conclusion that (any learning disabilities or physical or intellectual limitations aside), it is a matter of attitude, not aptitude.

OP: if the toaster over were the only thing that could prevent your DH from starvation, I bet he would figure it out.

[Hoot]

Do you think there's a relationship with the idea that some people are naturally "detail oriented" and others are more "global thinkers?" 

 

I do think there is some truth to the "whole to parts" vs. the "parts to whole" thinkers, and I think that in group collaborations it can be very useful to have people from both perspectives.  However, I'm not entirely sure whether it has anything directly to do with the ability to learn new things.  Can you help me understand what the potential connection might be there?  I don't know nearly enough about neuroscience.  :(

[Hoot]

I wonder...my minivan has fan and temperature controls for the back seats. There are two knobs. One shows a picture of a fan and when you turn it, the fan blows more or less. The other shows a blue line changing to a red line. When you turn the knob into the fully blue area, it's cold. When you turn the knob into the fully red area, it's hot.

 

Someone (whose relationship to me will not be named, but she birthed my husband...), canNOT for the life of her figure out these controls. No, she doesn't mind sitting in the middle seats of the car, so it's not a protest about not being in the front, but she canNOT figure it out. Every time we get in the car and someone says, "Grandma, can you turn on the fan?" she stares at the two knobs baffled.

 

They work exactly the same as in Every Other Car on the Planet, only they're in the back and and not in the front. I have wondered what the heck is going on that she can't learn this "new" thing.

 

 

Oy.  That's bad.  Sometimes I wonder if people are just so set in their ways that the introduction of something even slightly different from the norm paralyzes them.  Perhaps this is a side effect of disuse or under-use over time.

 

 

I don't know OP. I just don't know what happens. I hope it never happens to me. :(

 

I agree.  I wonder if this could be a precursor to or a sign of cognitive diseases such as dementia or Alzheimer's. 

 

[Hoot]

I think it is a question of really WANTING to learn the new thing.

There are things I "can not" learn - but the truth is that I have never given it any serious effort because there was no need. For example,I know nothing about plumbing repair, but I see no single reason why I should be incapable of learning how to do it if I gave it my fullest effort. I just don't, because that is something DH can do.

People will learn all kinds of things if they are forced to. I came to the conclusion that (any learning disabilities or physical or intellectual limitations aside), it is a matter of attitude, not aptitude.

OP: if the toaster over were the only thing that could prevent your DH from starvation, I bet he would figure it out.

 

I would definitely have to agree with this.  On the other hand, in some ways I wonder if portions of the brain are underdeveloped in some people for one reason or another: under-stimulation, disuse, generally slow maturation a particular region of the brain.  For example, young children are all ready to learn to read at different times.  Some are ready and capable at 3 while others may take until they are 9.  In older children, many are not ready for algebra until much later than others.  Certainly, it could be external factors like teacher, curriculum, outside stressors etc. or it could be a simple lack of internal motivation.  However, many believe that there is very literal brain maturity that must happen before these things can be understood.  I'm wondering if it is possible that this can occur on a larger scale in adults wherein sections of the brain that simply have not matured over time for some reason.

 

I hated math in school because I didn't understand it.  Not one word of it ever made sense.  Up until last year I really tried to work alongside DS so that I could be of some help to him as well as generally increase my own capability.  It was still a jumbled mess and I understood NONE of it.  This year, I got this "feeling" like the time was right, picked up Saxon Algebra 1 and I LOVE IT.  It makes so much sense and I feel like it is almost effortless.  The thing is, I've tried Saxon before and it always looked like a bunch of garbled number vomit.  Why was THIS the right time?  Did something in my brain, at 35 yrs. old, finally click or mature in a way that now makes me capable of learning it?  I don't know, but the idea interests me. 

[Hoot]

 

Dh always asks me to cook the rice, because 'my rice is better'. This is what I do with the rice: measure out 3 cups, dump it in the rice cooker. Measure out 3 cups of water, dump that in the rice cooker. Put lid on cooker, switch it on. It's impossible that my rice could be any better than anyone else's who follows the instructions. I guess he just doesn't want to bother with the rice.

 

Perhaps it is a ploy to avoid doing it himself, but I think things like this are sometimes our actual perceptions of reality and a compilation of the things we both consciously and subconsciously tell ourselves.  Sometimes, things genuinely do appear to taste better, not necessarily because they ARE, but because of our attachments to our own perceptions.  He may perceive you to be an excellent cook, which then colors his perception of all of the food that you feed him.  A blind taste-test would likely reveal that he could not, in fact, tell the difference between yours and his; but that would not stop his brain from telling him, in ordinary life, that yours tastes better. 

[Hoot]

Or maybe rice cooking is his love language ? :)

 

:lol:

If my love language is leaving me alone, then I don't see why rice cooking couldn't be his.  :)

[Dory]

I know it's not all of it, but I wonder sometimes if people who are unable to learn new things are that way because they haven't had to learn much for new things in awhile. I think the brain stays a little more nimble if it's exercised regularly. Just like people have a slightly lower chance of Alzheimers if they play memory games regularly. It's probably just a small part of the reason if it's a part at all though.

[Hoot]

I know it's not all of it, but I wonder sometimes if people who are unable to learn new things are that way because they haven't had to learn much for new things in awhile. I think the brain stays a little more nimble if it's exercised regularly. Just like people have a slightly lower chance of Alzheimers if they play memory games regularly. It's probably just a small part of the reason if it's a part at all though.

 

:iagree:

 

Actually, I think this probably plays a pretty big part.  I suspect that it is an intricate web of genetics, environment, necessity, and regular mental exercise.  Thinking strictly about my own experience here, I remember feeling like I was getting dumber by the week during my beginning years as a mostly house-bound SAHM.  I didn't use my brain for much beyond the regular everyday monotony.  When I started getting out of the house more and interacting with others it was almost like my brain had started rebooting.  When I started intentionally self-educating, I started making connections and becoming more interested in everything.  In my case at least, the more I used my brain, the more I wanted to find more new ways to use it.

 

[MiMi 4under3]

Motivation.

 

Where there's a will, there's a way.

[forty-two]

I know it's not all of it, but I wonder sometimes if people who are unable to learn new things are that way because they haven't had to learn much for new things in awhile. I think the brain stays a little more nimble if it's exercised regularly. Just like people have a slightly lower chance of Alzheimers if they play memory games regularly. It's probably just a small part of the reason if it's a part at all though.

I've wondered if it's age-related, getting set in one's ways, thinking that you are "done" with learning as a contributing factor for getting out of the habit of learning new things. Sort of like the people who don't keep up with advancements in their field but figure what they do know is sufficient, and once it becomes clear that their old skills are obsolete and they aren't employable, they *still* can't get into the frame of mind to learn the current things.

 

I never ever thought I'd be like that - a person who refuses to learn new things - but when dh got an android to replace his iPhone I had a really rough time learning to use it. It wasn't intuitive and I never had time to sit down and play with it - I only was using it to look up GPS while driving when dh forgot to set it - and after a while of that I found myself helplessly saying I just couldn't work the phone and thinking nostalgically of his old phone, and damning progress. I felt so unbelievably stupid and helpless, and finally it clicked in my head that I was *giving up*. That I was acting like every stereotypical senior citizen who just couldn't deal with newfangled things and was continually getting more and more out of step with current life. And I was just 33! And a bloody computer engineering major in my past life, to boot!

 

That was quite a wake-up call for me - to see how *easy* it was to throw my hands up in frustration and give up on trying to learn something. I *never* thought that would be me, ever. I hadn't quite realized that it's a matter of continually and actively making the choice to learn this new thing or that hard thing - that if you coast on your laurels and let a few things slide here and there then before you know it you're 10 years out of date. And then it probably seems too hard to climb out of that hole and so you might as well give up.

 

(After that realization I decided I wasn't letting any stupid phone defeat me and I *made* the time to figure it out.)

[Hunter's Moon]

I wonder...my minivan has fan and temperature controls for the back seats. There are two knobs. One shows a picture of a fan and when you turn it, the fan blows more or less. The other shows a blue line changing to a red line. When you turn the knob into the fully blue area, it's cold. When you turn the knob into the fully red area, it's hot.

 

Someone (whose relationship to me will not be named, but she birthed my husband...), canNOT for the life of her figure out these controls. No, she doesn't mind sitting in the middle seats of the car, so it's not a protest about not being in the front, but she canNOT figure it out. Every time we get in the car and someone says, "Grandma, can you turn on the fan?" she stares at the two knobs baffled.

 

They work exactly the same as in Every Other Car on the Planet, only they're in the back and and not in the front. I have wondered what the heck is going on that she can't learn this "new" thing.

 

I don't know OP. I just don't know what happens. I hope it never happens to me. :(

Honestly, this happens to me.

 

I can figure the knobs and controls out eventually, but especially if people are rushing me, it takes me a lot longer than it probably should.

[Mrs Mungo]

Do you think there's a relationship with the idea that some people are naturally "detail oriented" and others are more "global thinkers?"

OP, is there a chance that your dh an "S" personality type and you an "N"?

 

http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/sensing-or-intuition.htm

[Hoot]

OP, is there a chance that your dh an "S" personality type and you an "N"?

 

http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/sensing-or-intuition.htm

 

Hmm... honestly, after reading both descriptions, I feel like I fit with nearly 100% of the "S" personality traits and about 50 - 60% of the "N" traits.  However, I also find that I swing widely to EITHER side based on the specific situation.  As for DH, I feel like there needs to be a third type, "O" for oblivious.  :tongue_smilie:  Between the two, I think you are right that he would probably more strongly identify with "S" though.  Odd that we would both identify as primarily "S" but still be so fundamentally different.  Interesting.

[Halftime Hope]

My children cannot understand that I can have sung a song in church for 20 years and still not know the lyrics by heart.  I don't know lyrics (aside from a few lines of the chorus) for the music from my teen and young adult years either even though I listened to music a lot!  They not only pick up lyrics, they can actually hear and understand the words on the radio.  Many times, I cannot understand the words in music.  There is nothing wrong with my hearing; I think (at least part of) my brain is defective. 

 

 

[Hoot]

My children cannot understand that I can have sung a song in church for 20 years and still not know the lyrics by heart. I don't know lyrics (aside from a few lines of the chorus) for the music from my teen and young adult years either even though I listened to music a lot! They not only pick up lyrics, they can actually hear and understand the words on the radio. Many times, I cannot understand the words in music. There is nothing wrong with my hearing; I think (at least part of) my brain is defective.

That's interesting. Is it only music, or do you have trouble with spoken words such as audio books, too?

[myfunnybunch]

things like this are sometimes our actual perceptions of reality and a compilation of the things we both consciously and subconsciously tell ourselves. 

 

I think that a first encounter with a new thing can color all subsequent encounters as well. If my first encounter with the toaster oven or the climate controls in the car makes me feel overwhelmed, I might be setting myself up for an unconscious "I don't know how to do this" reaction every single time I see that object in the future.

 

Cat

 

[Lolly]

For most things, I think it is just lack of interest. Like with computers. I cannot make sense of pc's. Mac products...no problem! Dh is the opposite. If I were to put in the effort, I could probably tackle the pc. Same with dh and apples. However, some of it is how our brains work. Mine works more linearly, which seems to me how Mac products operate. It thinks like I do. Dh, on the other hand, is a pc. He jumps all over the place with his logic... 

[Arcadia]

I can't remember anyone's name unless I see a name carf/business card or I write it down. I have no problem with audio lectures or verbal instructions, just names.

My hubby and quite a few guy friends can't understand Ikea product manuals. They also don't do well for technical drawing despite being the most studious people I know. For me those things are easy and I aced technical drawing. My guess would be their spatial skills are less well honed.

 

I jump all over with my logic too and I am ok with Macintosh, PC, Linux and any OS but I find the windows 8 tiles format a visual overload.

 

ETA:

Hubby isn't good at learning home improvement from a book even if there are photos. He needs YouTube videos or seeing someone doing it. That's probably why his undergrad choice was electrical engin and not mechanical or civil engin.

[DesertBlossom]

This is a quality I much admire in my husband. He's never tiled a shower before, but he a bought a book and did an amazing job in our bathroom. He's like that with all home improvement stuff and life in general.  As a teenager he worked construction, and worked his way from grunt labor to finish carpentry and it was there he developed his "I can learn and do anything" attitude. He also has a very good eye for detail. 

 

When inclined, I can be that way. For many things it's too much mental effort so I defer to DH. Like if I HAD to, I'd be able to change a tire. But I'd probably just call DH home from work and make him save me. :)

[Halftime Hope]

That's interesting. Is it only music, or do you have trouble with spoken words such as audio books, too?

 

I like audiobooks, but really don't care for lectures or sermons on audio unless the speaker is *very* engaging.  However, I don't have trouble understanding the words.  Only with music.  And I should clarify, not with all music.  Some where the vocals are very well distinguished from the accompaniment are fine, no matter the genre, but my kids can understand a LOT more than I can.

 

[Tammi K]

I like to consider myself a fairly intelligent person, quickly able to grasp new info and apply it. But, despite repeated attempts I still can not wrap my head around Dragon Box. I have a degree minor in math and I still can't figure out a program that is intuitive for 4 and 5 year olds.   Why? I dunno!

 

DS, who by most standards is considered 'gifted' with, while not quite eidetic , a remarkable memory and ability to recall vast amounts of data. As an example, he easily memorized 'The Pied Piper', a 20 minute recitation in 4th grade. In kindergarten he completed his Awana book and did the entire review of the book in one sitting. This is the norm with him. Yet, no matter how often I attempt to speak to him in German he can't or won't remember it. I'm not talking about full conversations - just phrases and simple sentences. 

 

I think it comes down to a few things - motivation for one. I got to a point where I just said, "Oh well' and gave up on Dragon Box. I no longer have an interest in trying. Sometimes it is just because we attempted something, didn't succeed and are hesitant to try again. 

 

I think, barring a learning impediment, most people will figure out how to use new info if they WANT to and NEED to.   Sometimes, i think it is just easier to wait until someone steps in to do it for you.

 

[Guest]

I don't have any research to back me up--just anecdotal.  

It is easier for ME to learn new things through listening than through reading.  I have never read with great comprehension.  Podcasts and online learning are so wonderful for me. 

 

But the biggest key of all is that as I have gotten older, it is really about what I care to learn.  If I don't care about it, I can't remember a thing.  Eg. I can do all kinds of interesting and technical stuff with cameras now, and with the software used to manage them.  But when my dh is gone, I have to get my son to turn on the TV for me...I can't remember how anymore.  It used to be so simple--pull this knob.  Now it's 4 remotes and a partridge in a pear tree.  And I don't care that much.  

 

[KungFuPanda]

I've never learned to mix music on the computer. I've always managed to find people who know how and are willing to cut songs for me and manipulate them however I like. I've just never put aside the time to learn and the task continues to get finished as though I had. This is my toaster.

[KungFuPanda]

I don't have any research to back me up--just anecdotal.  

It is easier for ME to learn new things through listening than through reading.  I have never read with great comprehension.  Podcasts and online learning are so wonderful for me. 

 

But the biggest key of all is that as I have gotten older, it is really about what I care to learn.  If I don't care about it, I can't remember a thing.  Eg. I can do all kinds of interesting and technical stuff with cameras now, and with the software used to manage them.  But when my dh is gone, I have to get my son to turn on the TV for me...I can't remember how anymore.  It used to be so simple--pull this knob.  Now it's 4 remotes and a partridge in a pear tree.  And I don't care that much.

 

Our remote is in Chinese. I can't remember how or why. My son works it for me. I can find on/off and volume, but I don't attempt the rest.

[chocolatechip]

As for DH, I feel like there needs to be a third type, "O" for oblivious.  :tongue_smilie:  

:smilielol5:

[DawnM]

Huh, I use double the water for the amount of rice.   My rice cooker holds a total of 5 cups of rice, so I dump 2 cups of rice and 4 cups of water in.

 

Does your rice really work well with equal rice and water amounts?

 

Dawn

 

 

 

~

 

Dh always asks me to cook the rice, because 'my rice is better'. This is what I do with the rice: measure out 3 cups, dump it in the rice cooker. Measure out 3 cups of water, dump that in the rice cooker. Put lid on cooker, switch it on. It's impossible that my rice could be any better than anyone else's who follows the instructions. I guess he just doesn't want to bother with the rice.

 

[DawnM]

Honestly, if it is something I don't care about or am not interested in, I don't pay attention.  DH tries to teach me things on the car (fixing various parts, changing out spark plugs, etc...) but I really don't CARE enough to really want to learn.

 

Besides, if I need it, I can YouTube it!   :lol:

 

 

What makes some people capable of learning new things and others seemingly incapable?

 

I've been thinking about this lately.  About three months ago we bought a toaster oven.  I knew what one was but had never actually seen one in real life never mind knowing how to use it.  DH, on the other hand, had one growing up, though he had admittedly never used it for himself.

 

It took me 5 min. to figure out how to use it.  The controls are simple and intuitive, in my opinion.  DH, however, after 3 months, still can't figure it out despite both DS and myself standing with him multiple times and showing him how to use it.  At first, I thought it was just a ploy to get me to do it for him, but the other night after I had already gone to sleep, DH tried to use the toaster oven on his own and still couldn't do it correctly.

 

When this translates to education between otherwise equal students (meaning no overt learning disabilities) we often hear, "oh s/he's not wired for math" or "s/he just doesn't have the aptitude for reading." and it makes me wonder if there's something biologically sound to that or if it's just an excuse.  Supposing it isn't a learning challenge or damaged due to a brain injury, is it learned helplessness, weak neural pathways due to disuse, intentional closing off of new information in order to retain the status quo, or something else entirely?  Or, like most things, is it a combination of a variety of issues, some biological and some environmental, completely unique to each person?  Is there research on this?

 

[MomatHWTK]

Recent article on the topic:

http://www.sci-news.com/othersciences/neuroscience/science-piquing-curiosity-changes-brains-02189.html

[Ripley]

Contessa, you had great posts. I liked them.

I appreciated your attempts to understand the mindset.

I'm in my mid-30s. I don't like change, it throws me off.

 

But my husband's career, my career, parenthood and LIFE kept throwing it at me.

And when I had to, I dove in and did what had to be done.

I spent years as an army wife, then years as a divorced and single parent.

I had a career with required travel up until my early retirement in 2013.

My entire teens, 20s and first half of 30s were about juggling, adapting, learning, doing.

However I felt about change was irrelevant. It was a necessary, real, BIG part of my life.

 

But in the year since I've retired I've had to do none of that.

Life is calm, easy, boring even. I feel complete control over 99% of my day to day.

Maybe it's my perception only, maybe I really do have that much control. Who knows.

Nothing to juggle - no work schedules, no young children to parent, no in-laws to ... sigh, manage ...

And now the slightest change will throw me WAY off.

I guess predictability, age and general limited-use of my brain all play a role.

On top of general personality, I reckon. Since I've never liked change.

 

I was paralyzed last month when my son switched our cable carriers.

I just didn't watch anything until he taped up a chart of how to find "my" shows.

And a flow chart telling me how to access the cable box, the dvd and the Apple tv boxes.

 

I never update my IOS stuff on my phone.

Half of my apps aren't even usable anymore because whatever IOS I'm on is so outdated.

I can't figure out iTunes, despite motivation to.

I struggle with digital things especially - calendars, banking, all of that is difficult for me.

When starbucks changed it's app, I stopped using it.

When grocery stores change their layout, I stop going. I go instead to my second-tier choices.

 

It's been much worse since retirement.

I am not going to have a pleasant old age.

Or, at least the kid I'm living with won't LOL.

 

Dementia runs in my family.

I have seven aunties and uncles who have it.

They range in age from 88 to 97.

[mathnerd]

I don't care to learn a lot of things (like how to use the lawnmower, bicycle repair etc) because I don't want to and I don't need to. But, if necessary, I can suck it up, watch a couple of youtube videos on that topic and figure out how to get it done. We all have a range of things that we don't want to do. But, we have all done things that are a lot harder than some of the things that we don't want to do. I think that not doing something is just a choice.

[Ripley]

Motivation.

 

Where there's a will, there's a way.

 

I used to feel this was the case, too.

 

Then about 16 years ago I tried to make the switch to a dSLR.

I was an avid hobbyist photographer; learned from an uncle in the profession.

No issue using the (standard) SLR. Had used one since turning 10.

Yet I couldn't translate the skills from the standard to the digital camera.

 

Both cameras used identical wording and required identical skills.

Yet I've never been able to manually use a dSLR.

I can only use it in auto mode, to point and shoot.

But I prefer to manually control my shots.

So I still use an old SLR 95% of the time I take pictures.

I have no idea why I can do it on one camera, but not the other -

despite no changing of words, skills needed, or formatting used.

(In general I'm digitally challenged but this should've been easy for me.)

 

Ten years ago I looked outdated and stupid.

These days kids come up and "LOVE" my "vintage" cameras.

I have garden variety Nikons from the 70s and 80s LOL.

 

I'm an old dog who is highly motivated to learn THIS new trick.

But can't seem to.

:svengo:

So I've conveniently changed my stance on this issue :D.

Many times it's motivation, but sometimes it's not.

[Ellie]

I have also wondered about this, on multiple occasions, regarding people of all genders and ages. Never about myself, of course. :lol:

 

My youngest brother grew up pretty much as an only child. My mother and his father (my brother and I have different fathers) had a mobile home parked on a woodsy lot in a small town in Washington. They never, ever traveled. They rarely went out to eat, or to the movies, or made social visits. My brother went to school, of course, so he was not bereft of interactions with other people, but truly, his sphere of reference for just about anything was very limited. (He's slightly bitter about this, BTW). Today he is married to a wonderful woman and has two dc, and is career Army. He has been stationed in El Paso, Germany, and now Oklahoma. While in Germany, he and his family traveled extensively--which was part of his plan to bring up his children differently than he was.

 

But he still had a very small existence growing up. When he stays with us, he has been flummoxed by the paper towel holder in the kitchen, and does not know how to hang his bath towels on the hooks that are on the wall right next to the bath tub. I'm pretty sure it was he who stood on a chair to turn off the ceiling fan rather than turning it off on the wall switch which is right next to the one that turns the light on and off (I didn't find this out until several months later when I was changing sheets on the bed and turned the fan on, at the wall switch you know, and it didn't come on, requiring me to stand on the chair and pull the chain to turn it on...). I have wondered if his lack of life experiences when he was growing up in some ways makes it difficult, even impossible, to figure out small things such as how to get a paper towel, even though he has had so many experiences as an adult.

 

IDK.