Bandura's social learning theory establishes that much of what humans learn is acquired not through direct experience but through observation, modeling, and vicarious reinforcement — we learn by watching others navigate the world. This is not a peripheral phenomenon but foundational: the mirror neuron system, the entire apparatus of cultural transmission, and the power of the mentor relationship all rest on the mind's extraordinary capacity to learn from watching. The Sutras' model of teacher-student transmission (guru-śiṣya paramparā) is social learning theory in its most concentrated form.
Each step builds on the last.