It's always hard and confusing at first

I remember the days when I read Capablanca's book called "Chess Fundamentals." I estimate that my rating at the time might have been between 500 and 900. I spent many hours trying to understand the pawn endgames presented in that book. It was extremely tedious, and I would repeat the material several times. In the end I was left burnt out.

I took a week break, and I found that I forgot some ideas, but it was much easier to get through the material. I proceeded to repeat those pawn endgames again, and this time it was significantly easier to get through them. I doubt masters and grandmasters have an edge against me in king and pawn endgames or even rook endgames. Our knowledge should be approximately equal.

So let me take note of how my learning process works. The first days are glutted with difficulty and confusion. They are hard. Over time, as proficiency is gained, the initial difficulties seem to dissipate. I can get through ideas much more quickly. Somehow this has nothing to do with will or doing "your best." This process seems to be the product of the subterranean forces, i.e., the unconscious mind.

Likewise, in high school, I came to learn that studying the day before a test is folly! This is not how you cultivate true understanding and learning. Better is to take things gradually.

Hence, there is a famous quote that states, "Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection." Hence, to truly experience great results, patience and regular, consistent effort are required.

Having interests in philosophy, I came to learn that such a principle is stated by Guatama Siddhartha, the founder of Buddhism of 3000 years ago. Siddhartha stated in his discourses that "patience is the highest practice."

The very early stages of difficulty were also present as I took it upon myself to learn the brainstem song from one of my favourite childhood cartoon series called "The Pinky and the Brain." There was a lot of stumbling and difficulty initially. I can now recall the song perfectly after 10 years with minimal need for review.

Speaking of fictional works, I am reminded of how Goku initially struggled with 10 times Earth's gravity on King Kai's planet. However, over time, he adapts to it and can perform King Kai's exercises and drills with greater ease and grace.

The same is true for how I studied calculus. I can perform basic integration and differentiation without having to refer to my notes because of practice. The process is somewhat semi-automatic.

I am reminded by a quote given by the first world chess champion, Steinitz. I do not have the original book for a direct quote; however, if I were to paraphrase, it would be something like this: "It is better to solve 10 chess puzzles daily than to perform 100 chess puzzles in a single day."

Hence, with this insight, I have gained a better understanding of how to move towards mastery.

Having come up with my own pedagogical and epistemological theories, I am sure that I am simply reinventing the wheel, as these principles have most likely been explicitly stated by ancient philosophers and modern-day psychologists, neuroscientists, and experts in pedagogy.

Nevertheless, it is sometimes better to discover learning principles on your own. They feel more viceral, real, and closer to home. They are more easily and more readily accepted than principles espoused by an obscure expert.

One final note. None of this is intuitive, at least to me. But it works. Because it is not intuitive, it requires a certain degree of faith. It requires that we trust the process.