Propositional knowledge doesn’t spontaneously turn into procedural knowledge, but it can enable the acquisition of procedural knowledge with no other ingredient than the will to become proficient. I am self-taught in Bayesian data analysis, and I like to think that I’ve reached journeyman status. If I have, it is purely through reading and applying what I have read.
For many subjects it’s true, though even there the will is typically the limiting ingredient. (Also, will typically causes you to acquire knowledge, while knowledge doesn’t typically cause you to acquire will.) But for many other subjects it feels false to me: whenever I start actually doing something, I’m invariably surprised by how little I’m helped by pre-acquired propositional knowledge. Not sure how to quantify that.
Propositional knowledge doesn’t spontaneously turn into procedural knowledge, but it can enable the acquisition of procedural knowledge with no other ingredient than the will to become proficient. I am self-taught in Bayesian data analysis, and I like to think that I’ve reached journeyman status. If I have, it is purely through reading and applying what I have read.
For many subjects it’s true, though even there the will is typically the limiting ingredient. (Also, will typically causes you to acquire knowledge, while knowledge doesn’t typically cause you to acquire will.) But for many other subjects it feels false to me: whenever I start actually doing something, I’m invariably surprised by how little I’m helped by pre-acquired propositional knowledge. Not sure how to quantify that.