Being an automaton isn't so
bad.
I've met several musicians who don't fully get music, but they can memorize note sequences and where their fingers are supposed to be. So they can still make good music.
Jethro Tull's early bass player Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond was like this, incidentally. He knew where his fingers belonged but on a fundamental level he didn't really get it. I was mildly scandalized to discover this. He eventually left the band to pursue art.
I've met many other musicians who, because they understand music so well, have a sense for how a piece of music just has to go.
The same goes for cooking.
I for one have to stick to the recipe, to the letter.
But a genuine chef just has a feel for the kitchen, and can be much freer with his creations.
So yes, it's better to be a virtuoso than an automaton.
But by the same token, it's better to be an automaton than to sit on the sidelines and do nothing at all.
So with your Internet business:
It'd be nice to be one of those people who just has a feel for what to do, and for whom everything seems effortless. We all know people like that.
But it's better to be an automaton than to do nothing at all.
You want someone to say: just read this and follow the steps exactly as you see them. Click where it says to click. Type where it says to type. Etc.
I'll bet some of you would consider that a relief.
Nothing left to chance or the imagination. Just: DO THIS, THEN THAT.
Now if only something like that existed.
Last call:
Tom Woods