How does one know where to start? Which manual to read first?
read the right hand side section on each reddit group dedicated to begginers.
read some manuals/books...
what you said only fails for novel topics like quantum computing.
As if that wouldn't be spammed with SEO slop.
> read some manuals/books
Knowing which ones are credible is part of the bootstrapping.
> right hand side section on each reddit group dedicated to begginers
That's probably a useful advice, as they'd likely list which books are good and which are even better but useless for beginners.
How does one know where to start? Which manual to read first?