I personally think you’re confusing knowledge with understanding. If you know a ton about a topic but can’t explain it clearly to a novice, you have a lot of knowledge of the details but not something we might call understanding, or knowledge of how it all fits together and why someone might/should care about any of it.
I agree that writing is often crucial for me to resolve my knowledge and thinking about a topic into understanding of that topic.
If you know a ton about a topic but can’t explain it clearly to a novice, you have a lot of knowledge of the details but not something we might call understanding, or knowledge of how it all fits together and why someone might/should care about any of it.
How do you know if the topic is just unrealistic to get a novice up to speed, or if you’re not actually understanding it? Are there tell-tale signs?
What is understanding and what obvious or immediately apparent traits does a mind that has understanding about a topic differ from one that has maintained a large body of knowledge but not “understanding”?
I personally think you’re confusing knowledge with understanding. If you know a ton about a topic but can’t explain it clearly to a novice, you have a lot of knowledge of the details but not something we might call understanding, or knowledge of how it all fits together and why someone might/should care about any of it.
I agree that writing is often crucial for me to resolve my knowledge and thinking about a topic into understanding of that topic.
How do you know if the topic is just unrealistic to get a novice up to speed, or if you’re not actually understanding it? Are there tell-tale signs?
What is understanding and what obvious or immediately apparent traits does a mind that has understanding about a topic differ from one that has maintained a large body of knowledge but not “understanding”?
These are good questions, and I don’t have good answers.
Of course my use of “understanding” isn’t that common, let alone universal; but I think it’s an important concept to have, even if it’s vague.
Easily and clearly explaining to a novice without resorting to others’ explanations or cached thoughts is the best tell-tale sign I know of.
I do say a little more about this definition of understanding in my Sapience, understanding, and “AGI” . But not much.