Comment by SoftTalker

You just realistically can't know everything. I have a tankless water heater. It's almost a magical black box to me, but I know a little bit more about it now that I've taken pictures of it and asked LLMs to explain it to me. I'm still not a water heater technician, but I feel more knowledgeable.

And on the topic of motorcycles, I recently got a crappy bike that barely starts, and I partially got it because I feel capable of fixing it. And now it runs pretty well because I used lots of "video chats" with Gemini (and the owner's manual as context) to fix it!

Yes and no. For one thing the radiator/reservoir cap is clearly marked "Do not open when hot." But the general point really is that if you have no idea how something works, you will be helpless when it doesn't work. If (at some time in the future) the only thing you know how to do is ask an AI to do something for you, then you'll be not only helpless without it, but less and less able to judge whether what it is telling you is even correct. Like taking your car to a mechanic because it's overheating, and him saying you need a new water pump and radiator when maybe all you needed was a new pressure cap but you never even knew to try that first.

Of course you can't know everything. There a point at which you have to rely on other people's expertise. But to me it makes sense to have a basic understanding of how the things you depend on every day work.

What the hell? There are plenty of reasons to pop your hood that literally anyone competent to drive should be able to do perfectly safely. Swapping your own battery. Pulling a fuse. Checking your oil, topping up your oil. Adding windshield wiper fluid. Jump starting a car. Replacing parts that are immediately available.

Not requiring one to pop the hood, but since I've almost finished the list of "things every driver should be able to do to their car": Place and operate a jack, change a tire, replace your windshield wiper blades, add air to tires (to appropriate pressure), and put gas in the damned thing.

These are basic skills that I can absolutely expect a competent, driving adult to be able to do (perhaps with a guide).

I have had this new car for 5 months. I haven't learned to turn on the headlights yet. It just turns itself on and adjusts the beams. Every now and then I think about where that switch might be but never get to it. I should probably know.

Aren't radiator caps supposed to let excessive pressure escape?

You fill up the reservoir, but the cap is still there.

What kind of car do you drive that doesn't have one?