A good professor explained this to me in 2 minutes after I had struggled with it several times. Losing a lot by not doing this in person, but what he said, pre

A good professor explained this to me in 2 minutes after I had struggled with it several times. Losing a lot by not doing this in person, but what he said, pretty much, was: Prove that something is true for 1. Prove that if it's true for 1, it must be true for 1+1. Then it's true for 2. Recycle the proof to prove that it's true for 2+1. Then it's true for 3. Generalize the proof so that it's true for (anything it's true for)+1. Then it's true for any finite number, by induction. Drawing a number line on the board helps, or a bunch of lines connected by dots. Questions?