With or without guide book?

When you decide to travel it's because you want to discover something new, you want adventure. Right? It can be for a new culture, new people, new landscape etc... It's also because you want to escape, you want to get out of the system for a little while or you want to leave your routine at home.
So, if you want adventure, if you want to escape; why so many people need a guide book when traveling? Where is the adventure? It can be useful for maps (that's what I was told), but I really don't see the point in following it like some people follow the bible.
When you travel, you want to see something not everybody else has seen (except for the major sightseeings; Taj Mahal, Great Wall etc...) , you want to go and "lose" yourself. When I see those people, who call themselves travelers, and they can't get around without their book, it makes me sad. More so, in the evening at the hostel, when they ask each others what they have seen, it's always in reference with their travel book. "Did you go there? My book says I have to go?" "In mine, it says to go there, but it wasn't nice." "Did you try this restaurant, my book recommends it?" etc... You see what I'm talking about.
When you go to a hostel which is listed in one of those traveling books, those so called travelers, all have the same book, all go to the same restaurants, they all have the same stories and they all have the same photos. What's the point?
I mean, do you always want to do what everybody else does? Do you want to be assisted even when you travel? We all have a different definition of traveling, but this one is not the best one.
There is nothing wrong with having a guide book while traveling, what's wrong is following it too much. I don't have anything wrong with the writers either; I just don't feel like doing the same trip as someone else. Moreover, we all have different views, we don't have the same taste; it's quite strange to follow someone else experience knowing we won't have the same one.
There are other sources of information; a good one is talking to locals. Most of the time they know where are the good spots and how to travel in the country. An other one is obviously internet. You have map and history for every countries of the world, all majors sightseeing are listed, you can find any type of transport you need and so on.
What can be a good experience, is renting a motorbike for a ride in the country side. Just take a map with you and go. You will be surprised what you can see on a day trip. You will also meet locals who might invite you for a drink. Even though you can't speak to each other, because of the barrier language, it's really nice to spend time with them. They want to know who you are.
Food wise, if you don't know where to eat, be a bit adventurous. Walk around and try to spot the restaurant where the locals are eating. If you can't read the menu, point to someone's dish, even you may think it's a bit rude; most of the people understand and will smile at you. They really appreciate when we mix with them. If you are lucky, one of the customers might speak English and help you to choose something from the menu.
This is my own experience, I'm not telling you to do the same but I'm giving you ideas for your next trip. Be a bit more adventurous and you will be very surprised.