John,

No I haven't reached very far up the ladder of expertise. I'm new to
building cabinets. I DID do them without using anyone's plans, but
that's only after a lot of thought, using Excel to get the dimensions
right, and thinking about what I wanted. My workbench and cabinets are
simple affairs; had I a complex project, my limited ideas would fail me
and I'd need much assistance.

I wasn't condemning anyone for painting by numbers. It was the first
thing I thought of as an analogy. It's been pointed out by several
folks that it was a poor one. I used it in the mistaken belief that
following along with a plan offered no creativity or sense of
accomplishment. That was my mistaken idea. I get it now.

Let me share something: Years ago I built a 25" TV, and o'scope, and a
couple of other electronic testers. I didn't feel a whole lot of sense
of accomplishment because they were all kits. I followed page after
page of detailed instructions in order to build those things. So I
related that feeling of lack of accomplishment to the use of plans while
woodworking. Instead of mentioning the kit building, I thought of paint
by numbers first...

Also I recognize that everyone has their own skill set. I was wondering
out loud if the need to follow plans was due to a lack of 3D thinking.
That's not a character flaw. Now I see that the "need" is not usually a
"need"; but a convenience, a tool. As I've mentioned to other posters
this morning, I have seen the error in my thinking!

and thank you for contributing to this very interesting thread.

dave

John McCoy wrote:
snip
(you, I gather, have reached a certain level of expertise).
scratch.

To take your painting example, many of the old masters of the
renaissance learned by painting over another master's work.
They weren't born with an inate grasp of color & perspective,
they learned it. Would you condemn their later work because
they started with "paint by numbers"?

John