I like the explanation that the metaphor is only valuable if you have other stuff pre-loaded that it can sit on top of. I think people learn different ways. Th

I like the explanation that the metaphor is only valuable if you have other stuff pre-loaded that it can sit on top of. I think people learn different ways. This writer seems to approach the world in the way I do, but I'm not sure everyone is like that. I've had friends who can start of with the abstract and just suck it in. I think there's a correlation with people who can do this with those who can easily remember things 'for the test' at school even if they can't put the knowledge into context. I've never discovered how to tweak my brain to get it to buffer knowledge like this with a faith that it will be useful in a minute - I find it exhausting and I still don't retain. I sat down to write a program in iolanguage the other day. Even though I've read lots of tutorials and feel like I know it now, it was very exhausting to connect that with a practice of do this, now do that, etc. I remember a similar feeling when I started java which I overcame by writing a program a day that started off with static void main(String args[]). A big hurdle with conceptual ideas is getting your brain to twist the right way around to them when you encounter a problem that could be solved by them. I think this is the difference between raw knowledge and what Heinlein used the word 'groking' to describe. One game that sometimes works as an alternative is to example-based learning something through a context of documenting it. This can be difficult though if the barrier between this knowledge and other topics isn't well-defined.