Even if it isn't (and cannot) be literally true, I think Eliezer Yudkowski was on to something when he invented the "Merlin Interdict" in his fantasy work: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality.
Every highly systemized art form requires a living tradition to pass its most advanced achievements. Documentation, no matter how extensive, cannot convey all the subtleties, mostly because the experts are not 100% aware of all the little details that set them appart from the merely competent.
Some human endevours are best learned as a long process of deliverate practice under a wise mentor, who can help you steer the path and point your attention back to one apparently irrelevant detail or another. Self study is posible and effective, but it will only take you so far. And to rediscover some lost art from first principles requires a level of geniality on par with the first creators of the art in the first place.
Even if it isn't (and cannot) be literally true, I think Eliezer Yudkowski was on to something when he invented the "Merlin Interdict" in his fantasy work: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality.
Every highly systemized art form requires a living tradition to pass its most advanced achievements. Documentation, no matter how extensive, cannot convey all the subtleties, mostly because the experts are not 100% aware of all the little details that set them appart from the merely competent.
Some human endevours are best learned as a long process of deliverate practice under a wise mentor, who can help you steer the path and point your attention back to one apparently irrelevant detail or another. Self study is posible and effective, but it will only take you so far. And to rediscover some lost art from first principles requires a level of geniality on par with the first creators of the art in the first place.