Life skills: mechanical/electronic savvy

Self-tutoring about skills some people just have: the tutor mentions aptitude with devices.

I had a friend with a microwave on which you pressed the Power Level button, then the number (1-4), then the duration, then Start. It was the first and only microwave I used for about three years.

The trouble was, I thought every microwave must be the same. When I would encounter one without a “Power Level” button, I wouldn’t be sure what to do. Not knowing much about microwaves back then, I didn’t want to just try buttons to see what would happen. It took me a while to realize that on most microwaves – like all the ones I know of now – you can just enter a duration, then press Start.

It’s surprising how untransferable the operation of one device is to a similar one in so many cases. The Internet has made this much easier, of course, but very often the first site you visit just has what everyone would assume – not the literal instructions. The second or third one, however, usually will have the literal steps.

Some people have a real gift for this kind of thing: they can just intuitively sense what will probably work if this device is similar but not the same as the one they know. It might be the most under-appreciated talent going:)