I Want To Have Been Able To Get It On My Own

On a technical mailing list I'm on, I just saw someone ask how to do something and get a response that was brilliant, clear and to the point. The original questioner asked where that feature was documented and received an answer that irritates me every time I hear it: "Oh, that's not documented anywhere."

I love figuring stuff out. The challenge of the puzzle is one of the main reasons I love programming. In that pursuit, I expect to have to ask for help, go searching at the great oracle and otherwise do the legwork. When I end up having to ask someone for help, I prefer to have been able to have gotten it on my own if I'd spent enough time. When it turns out that the only solution to the problem was locked inside the head of a specific person, I'm always irritated and feel helpless.

When I do go for help, it's always just to get over the exact speedbump in my way. I'm always looking for just the pointer in the right direction. I'm willing to do the work because it's more satisfying to do it yourself.

Here's a non-programming example of the concept. One of the reasons that The Sixth Sense works as a movie is that, while the plot twist is a surprise, when you go back, you realize that you could have figured it out on your own. That's the exact reason that Mission Impossible fails in my book. The plot twist could never have just been figured out.