I get where you're coming from, but it applies to me equally in plenty of other domains.

There are countless things I understand the basics of but am not an expert in. That's why we specialize, because we can't be experts in everything all the time.

I don't mean it to be condescending, I mean to express that I can know that stars are powered by nuclear reactions and yet not have a firm grasp of what that really entails.

Most people, including myself, have a shallow understanding of a lot of things, and a deep understanding of very few things relatively speaking.