Right? I understand why its advised so glibly - it sounds nice and when it works its powerful but.. I had one mentor that was ruthless in forcing me to explain

Right? I understand why its advised so glibly - it sounds nice and when it works its powerful but.. I had one mentor that was ruthless in forcing me to explain myself and almost pedantic in his insistence on correct vocabulary at all times (programming), but I was also able to interrogate the hell out of him and had practical strategies for identifying and rooting out my own misunderstanding - it was incredibly rewarding but frequently exhausting, half the time we'd wrap up and I'd feel like my voice had grown horse from shouting. It wouldn't have worked if we didn't trust each other, or if ever I had grown discouraged by my own ignorance, or if he hadn't worked on a compiler team and been able to describe in detail and on command the function of any part of a computer system. And I suspect most success stories using that method are somewhat like this; deeply personal, probably shouldn't be your expectation or plan A.