What does it mean to understand something?
I become more certain by the day, that the true test of understanding something is the ability to communicate it to others. Just because you ‘get it’ in a sort of abstract, internal way doesn’t mean you understand it. This is why some of the smartest bloggers are the eloquent ones. It’s not what they know, it’s how they disseminate the information that sets them apart. And arguably it’s this dissemination that truly defines their understanding.
It got me thinking about the Einstein quote “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” Which got me thinking about Noah – who has been known to cite the quotation. Noah recently put together an excellent presentation considering what innovation actually meant. Read it here. I will crudely paraphrase and say that the broad conclusion was that invention is the creation of a new idea, but innovation is bringing it to market. I.e. Innovation is the ability to realise an invention through its adoption by others.
Which brings me back to ‘understanding’. I think that ‘explaining’ is to understanding what innovation is to invention. Forget what you know – it is only of limited use. Real smartness is the ability to – as my old creative writing tutor called it – “infect” others with your idea.
I ‘understand’ this. I hope I’ve managed to explain it ;)
