I hate autocorrect.
Anyway, pilots were learning to fly before flight simulators. Is starting out on flight simulators a beneficial advancement in the learning process? Absolutely...but, if you get plopped down in the c ockpit of an F-14, after 20 years in a flight simulator, and zero time in the actual sky, you're gonna die on day one, in a dog fight against an enemy pilot with zero time on a simulator, and only 2 years of training and actual experience in the sky. You will get blown out of the sky. And, that's if the flight simulator replicates the flight experience perfectly.
The problem with martial arts with zero field testing, taught by instructors who've never been field tested, in which black belts are awarded to students who've never been field tested, is that it usually isn't even grounded in reality.
Obviously, I wouldn't advise anyone to go around starting street fights, just to gain experience. That's a wildcard scenario, and anything can happen. But, if you're going to spend your time and money learning to fight, choose a combat sport that will force you to get in the ring and actually test yourself. It isn't a street fight, but it's as close as you're gonna get, while surrounded by people who aren't gonna keep kicking your head in, once you hit the deck.