Wow, this is so correct, you could be looking at something for years and never see it, then you read something and that triggers an idea, and your spend next three weeks looking for that reoccurring pattern, and it been there years, LOL.
That is indeed uncredibly true. But most people don't realize this. That's why you should try to think "out of the box". If have two examples of what I experienced myself: I know a company where they are keen to hire last years students . All these studenst have to do is walk around in the company and watch what happens there with a critical eye and make an extensive report about their observations. I was one of these students, was asked to come to the manager of human resource management, and receieved congratulations for my report. He told it was very useful for them and that many students cannot think out of the box or are afraid to give critics because they consider themselves as newbies and don't want to be arrogant. But their real value is that they are newbies, they are not "polluted" by the way the company works actually. I was working in a company where they developped photo's. One a day student (last year engineering) asked the manager from a productionline why they did do something in that certain way. The manager told that there was a book with procedures they had to follow. So nobody was thinking anymore, they copied was decided in past as being the best solution. The student came up with another procedure and received a big incentive fee because this new procedure was much better. These experiences were for me the confirmation that reading books about trading and copying existing indicators and methodologies is useless. You should find new insights in existing and or new material. Not copy what is used already for decades.
Excellent post. I agree with everything except what I quoted above. In most areas of life it's necessary to have a good grasp of the complexities that already exist. It's improbable advances in computing or other technology could occur without electricity. Traders can't simply plug into and utilize the TA equivalents of electricity without first knowing what they are. In my non-trading studies at least one memorable teacher emphasized acquiring a good grasp of the nomenclature which defined slight differences between components. In all technology based endeavors this is a prerequisite skill which when applied to trading enables distinguishing subtle distinctions between components which otherwise would be unnamed and referenced by their generic form as price and thus be indistinguishable from other forms of price. Studying is a prerequisite for success. Existing methods are useful. This indicates agreement about using existing science such as is found in books. ...which would contradict the earlier quote but I understand the energy behind wanting to emphasize original thinking and looking at price in new ways requires downplaying the value of what already exists and imo it's likely you didn't mean to disparage studying what already exists. Studying is a precursor to attempting thinking outside the box. It would be rare for someone to analytically decompose the essence of trading without first studying the existing knowledgebase, but I agree most people are unable to transition into thinking through the process of what's important and solving the missing pieces in their own unique ways.