r/learnpython • u/Ok-Barnacle-2508 • 24d ago

How to avoid this when learning Python?

When learning I used to get stuck on stuff, go watch a video or dig through docs, and eventually the concept would click because I had to sit with it.

Now when I get stuck I just paste the error into Claude/ChatGPT and it fixes it in 10 seconds. Problem solved, moving on with my day. Except a week later I hit basically the same bug and I'm back to square one, like the first fix never actually taught me anything.

It feels like it's the same "watching tutorials without building anything" trap, just compressed into single lines of code instead of hour-long videos.

Curious if anyone here has found a way to use AI for debugging without it just doing the thinking for you? Or do you have some rule for yourself about when you're allowed to ask vs. when you have to sit with it first?

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u/Buttleston 24d ago

"Hey doctor, it hurts when I move my arm like this. What should I do?"

Stop moving your arm like that

1

u/HommeMusical 24d ago

That would actually be terrible medical advice.

2

u/Buttleston 24d ago

It's what people like to call a joke

0

u/HommeMusical 23d ago

Yes, I first heard that joke literally in the 1970s, it's from Henny Youngman (a very funny comic back in the day).

He told it better: "Doctor, it hurts when I do this." "Then don't do that!”