Its hard to make rules as I think it depends very much on how (and when) you learn. For example, children learn dancing simply by being told to do something and then doing it. It leads to fast learning - but to no understanding. Adults can learn the same way but some of us need to know why as well as how - the idea (for me) is that I can then incorporate the lesson into a broader framework and use that in different situations without needing yet another lesson (see where this is going

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Totally agree. In post-secondary school for medical professions I saw many people who were failing out because they had average scores of 60 to 65% on tests. Then there were others, like myself, that scored 90% or higher on their tests. Two months later I asked the average scorers questions from the exams and they could still answer about 55 to 60% of the questions correctly. I then asked the high scorers the same questions but they, including myself, could only answer 25% to 30% of the questions correctly. Like the children we could spit things back very accurately but didn't truly gain the understanding, so the knowledge was really only short term. The average scorers took the time to gain the understanding so in actuality retained more. In reality they were the far better students and most likely would be better for the jobs. In dancing I want to understand the mechanics and reasoning behind each step. It may take me longer and I may not win as much in the short term but in the long run, like the averagers, I will become the far better dancer.