• Step 1: Pick a concept you think you understand well. It could be something from your work, a topic you discuss often, a tool you use, or an idea you’ve been advocating for.
  • Step 2: Explain it step by step without looking anything up. Write it out or say it out loud as if you were teaching someone who knows nothing about it. Don’t skip the “obvious” parts. Follow the chain of cause and effect from beginning to end.
  • Step 3: Notice where you get stuck. Pay attention to the moments where your explanation gets vague, where you use filler phrases like “it basically works by…” or “somehow it just…” or where you realize you’re actually restating the what instead of explaining the how. Those gaps are the illusion breaking.

That discomfort in Step 3 is the most valuable signal you’ll get because it tells you exactly where your actual understanding ends and where the illusion of clarity begins.

Confronting the illusion of clarity is not always pleasant, especially when you realize that something you thought you knew – maybe something you’ve even taught others or built decisions on – is held together by vague assumptions rather than real understanding.

But I’ve come to see this discomfort as one of the most productive feelings available to us as knowledge workers. Every time I sit down to write and hit that gap between what I thought I knew and what I can actually explain, I know I’m actually learning.

Source: The Illusion of Clarity • Ness Labs

I now have vocabulary to a mechanic I employed at school to learn. I took every opportunity to explain concepts and topics of subject to my friends / anyone who wanted help. Originally, I think, it came from trying to ape my dad, who I still think, deeply understands certain core subjects in a way that I aspire to.

The motivation changed to be more intrinsic over time as I started to appreciate that my own understanding of topics got better when I try to explain it as if I were to listeners.

In fact, similar to the author, this blog started as a way for me to explain how to write a content management system in php as I taught myself the language to understand how to write software for the web. I also learned that I process by writing.

The topics on the blog morphed over time. It served a wonderful purpose for me to process these interests around technology, life and the self.

Even this post serves a purpose. I am learning to accept that I don’t know everything. And that scares me. Related to the topic around my dad being a master explainer of core concepts and as someone that deeply understood topics, I’ve always felt that I don’t measure up. To build my own confidence, I think I formed a shell around me that I do know everything. I think it helped me in some cases. However, I also think it’s damaged my ability to accept imperfection, chaos etc.

I am not an expert on any topic discussed here. I am using this as a way to get more reps. I am and will always be a work in progress. This is part of the journey I am documenting - partly to process, partly to explain and partly for me to gain a little better understanding of life and self.