This is my experience, and my favorite way to learn: go in blindly. I think it forces a deeper understanding of the topic, and really helps things "stick". I assume it's related to the massive dumps of dopamine that come from the "Eureka!" moments.

I've "invented" all sorts of old patents, all sorts of algorithms, including the PID algorithm. I think it helped form a very practically useful "intuition".

But, I've noticed that some people are passionately against this type of self exploration.