Understand All The Connections

How would you explain writing to somebody?

Three years ago, I chose to explain it by tiers of complexity, starting with sounds, and continuing up through words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, and many others, finally ending on philosophy.

Is this the only way to explain it?  Of course not.  I could have started by talking about grammar, how each word is a part of speech, how sentences are constructed by grammar, how there are infinite possible sentences, and how we choose which ones we use based on how well they explain what we want, and how doing so can also affect people emotionally.

I also could have started with the mechanical aspects of physically writing, how letters and numbers are just pictures we have given meaning to, how words and phrases are extensions of these principles, and how writing is like a picture that tells a story not by showing it visually, but by making use of the shared understanding of these rows and rows little pictures.

I could apply the same concept to teaching math.  How do you explain it to somebody?  We traditionally start with addition, then subtraction (which is reversing addition), then multiplication, then division. But why that order?  Why don't we learn addition, and then multiplication, since that is just a faster way of adding? For that matter, why do we even start with abstract numbers? Why do we not teach math by shapes and how they are related to each other without using numbers at all?

Two years ago, I said, "I believe that you cannot truly understand something until you can put it into your own words." I do agree with this still. That is a vital step in understanding any subject or concept. But I know now that there is more to that.

If you truly wish t understand a subject, then understand all the connections within your subject. Nothing is a strict linear progression. Whether it is writing, fighting, math, or music, every aspect within them is interrelated with the other aspects. And in order to explain it all, you understand that there is no easy way to do it thoroughly. There are countless paths you can take, countless ways to describe how everything is connected, and you get how it all works together.

Be careful when you think about a subject you know that well. It is possible to get trapped in an endless loop of connections. The one great part, though, is if you can take a step back and see the complex mechanism as a single entity; it is a sight to behold.