As I was preparing for a workshop I’m participating in, I had to read a few chapters of a book and wondered why it was taking me so long to work myself through it. I ended up investing a few hours reading the text and interrupting my reading with some writing. To get a better understanding of the text I was summarizing it while rephrasing it.

I found it slightly confusing that it was taking me so long, but I had set out to get the best possible grasp of the text and so I decided to feel ok with that time investment and assume that it was due to the time I invested in writing some of it up. During the workshop I found myself fascinated by the fact that almost everyone had been challenged by that text, even the native speakers.

Reading Rohan’s daily learning about explaining something complex things became clearer. A way to explain something complex is to describe it in as many details as needed to make it logically sound to oneself. That can become very detailed until our logic can be established.

The text, as it has been written, is a summary of it. One that was written for a specific audience and with the author’s intention to serve that audience well. That is, searching for the best possible compromise to meet their logic and inviting them to develop their logic to get a better grasp of the subject.

It’s also based on the understanding a perfect match for everyone’s way of thinking can’t be reached. Sharing all the details needed for my understanding would be overwhelming for others. The art then becomes to adapt to a selected audience by sharing just enough of what they look for and not more.