Rails went from fun ActiveRecord magic tricks to a world of 'TEST FAILED.' As a beginning Rails developer it has really taken all the fun out of RoR development.
Well, TDD *is* a choice. If it's bad for you, exercise free will!
Is TDD so much better than writing methods and testing using a combination of the application interface and Navicat to check the database?
Yes, it is. No question in my mind. TDD generally will slow you down when you start using it, like anything new. But you'll soon get into the habbit, and you'll be writing better code.
The big boost the you cannot see since you haven't experienced it yet, is when the application becomes more complex, and you make a change that you KNOW works fine, and a test fails. You'll grumble and say, "You see, THAT is why I hate TDD."
Then, while fixing the damn test, you'll realize there's nothing wrong with it. You'll then know, without question, why TDD works. It allows you to make not only trivial changes with confidence, but serious tear the wires out changes, and know that when the tests pass, you're good to go.
Because I hate it.
That's a not insignificant part of the problem. 
