Knowing and being able to explain are not the same skill

Two different skills

There's a difference between recognizing the shape of a solution and being able to derive it
without the shape already in front of you. The first is pattern matching. The second is
understanding. Most technical education optimizes for the first, because it's faster to teach
and easier to test.

Where the gap shows

The gap only shows up when someone asks "why does it work that way" instead of "does it work."

What I took from it

1. Recognizing a solution and deriving it are separate skills, and practicing one doesn't train the other.
2. "Does it work?" tests recognition. "Why does it work that way?" tests understanding. Ask myself the second one.
3. A gap that only appears under a specific question is worth testing directly, not assuming.

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Originally published on my site.