Introduction

The point of this blog is to get to grips with the idea of "understanding".
My background is science and mathematics with an interest in cognitive science and artificial intelligence.
I've always dreamt of having a program that "understands explanations", but that wont be the main focus here. Instead I'm mainly motivated by what makes good teaching.
I start off with some general questions which are not supposed to be taken as entirely meaningful, just entries into discussion, as is the case in philosophical discussions.
In fact I asked a philosopher friend about what philosophers had to say about understanding and got the impression he did not want to deal with the question, but conceded it was interesting.

I want readers to participate with comments or even start their own blog and tell me.

I'm not expecting the notion of understanding to be well defined, it could cover a constellation of concepts.

I'll be looking at understanding in different fields like mathematics and physics as well as hopefully some wildly different fields.

I'll be interested in what are impediments to understanding, even if they seem "off topic". For example what is called by some as "math anxiety" is a fear that can be an impediment to anxiety.

And then there is the phenomenon that sometimes you understand a subject as a student, but several years later you can no longer understand the same books. Why? What can be done about it?

The posts will be rather rambling and freewheeling in nature, so bear with me, and please intervene constructively.