I feel like my university only taught calculation, not theory, when it came to linear algebra. It’s like the equivalent of a “12 hacks to rotate a matrix” artic

I feel like my university only taught calculation, not theory, when it came to linear algebra. It’s like the equivalent of a “12 hacks to rotate a matrix” article. The theoretical books I find however give no explanation for the definitions etc, ie, WHY are the dot/cross products defined the way they are. It’s as though they feel matrixes are natural phenomenon that you should just memorize the properties of, which is also nonsense. The entire field is defined by such terrible books. I’d love to be wrong though if somebody has a recommendation