Re:Intelligent people take longer to solve hard problems
by anyfoo on Thursday June 22, 2023 @03:36PM
(#36437560)
> except to memorize them and gradually extend understanding backwards
That is not the only reason, but also a big part of it, yes. Some of the things (but not all) that I memorize I admittedly don't actually understand. But usually, the sudden realization comes at a later point, when I understood more of something else.
Literally happened last week to me. I had been memorizing a "stupid" theorem for a while[1], not realizing why it's useful, until something I read was about discontinuities in the n-th derivation of a function, and what that means for the terms of the function's Taylor series, and it all lit up in me, tying it all together.
That is not the only reason, but also a big part of it, yes. Some of the things (but not all) that I memorize I admittedly don't actually understand. But usually, the sudden realization comes at a later point, when I understood more of something else.
Literally happened last week to me. I had been memorizing a "stupid" theorem for a while[1], not realizing why it's useful, until something I read was about discontinuities in the n-th derivation of a function, and what that means for the terms of the function's Taylor series, and it all lit up in me, tying it all together.
It's a good feeling!
[1] https://www.dsprelated.com/freebooks/sasp/Spectral_Roll_Off....