Marcus, before the interwebs we actually talked to people, used complete sentences with proper spelling and grammar as well as being able to follow written instructions in shop manuals.
The hell you say?!?!?!
Actually, I remember using Chiltons manuals when wrenching with my Pop. And if you didn't know how, like you said, you asked someone who did. My friends' Pop could rebuild a Ford motor while drunk, asleep or not within 10 miles of the motor.
A guy I worked with about a decade ago was finishing his Bachelors degree and asked me how we did research for papers before the intar_webz. I told him we would go to the library and dick around for hours before hurriedly and randomly jotting down info from the first book(s) we could find on the subjects we were writing about.