(Asking online was a possibility, but instead of helpful answers, insults for being newb was the standard response)
With a LLM I would have had a likely correct answer immediately.
And yes, yes what if it is wrong?
Well, I was also taught plenty of wrong stuff from human teachers as well. I learned to think for myself. I doubt anyone decently smart who now grews up with those tools, think they are flawless.
In the end, you are responsible for the product. If it works, if it passes the tests, you succeeded. That did not change.
Hypothetically, a solution to a problem that preoccupied you for days would translate into a more stable and long-lasting neuron configration in your brain (i.e. be remembered) than a solution to a problem that preoccupied you only for the time taken to type the prompt in.
But I don't have the time and energy to figure everything out on my own and I stopped learning many things, where some useful hints in time likely would have kept the joy for me to master that topic.
So it is probably about the right balance.
Assuming you're literate, there's no age or skill level at which it's necessary to get stuck churning on beginner-level questions. The option to RTFM is always available, right from the start.
To this day, readiness to RTFM (along with RTDS: read the damn source) is the biggest factor I can identify in the technical competency of my peers.
Well, I guess I am, too, but I still see great value in asking specific questions to competent persons.
Or don't you think asking teachers/instructors questions is helpful?
I feel weird when I read about people needing support. Maybe there is something wrong with me.
I know I had mostly bad teachers and am largely a autodidact myself. But the few good teachers/instructors I had, were really helpful for my learning progress.
A teacher can be a unique resource, but asking the teacher is often more of a reflexive shortcut than the thoughtful use of a unique resource.
I think use of LLMs (like StackOverflow before them) are more likely to discourage people from seriously or patiently reading documentation than they are to act as a stepping stone to a habit of more serious inquiry for most people.