Roots of Knowledge
What exactly does it mean to “make sense of” something? To understand it? My intuition (what is that, anyway?) offers this definition: To snugly integrate a new concept into what you already know. The more connections between the new concept and the existing concepts, the deeper the understanding will be. “Pondering” any concept, old or new, can deepen your understanding. Having a diverse set of frames of reference helps build an accommodating infrastructure for new concepts. But what is “knowing”? The result of recognizing truth. To accept as indisputable, potentially foundational, or even fundamental, fact. What about “knowing about”? To have an existing mental representation of the object. What’s the difference between knowing and understanding? The same as the difference between looking and seeing, listening and hearing.