Do any of you have trouble understanding complex subjects?

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I have a very hard time understanding complex topics. I can only join in conversations about simple things. I have a hard time understanding relativities and formulas and things that are said in code. I also have a hard time understanding theories and things about conspiracy theories. I'm really that dense. KISS Keep it simple, Schultz. Keep it simple, Sid.

People. They make no sense.

I have trouble understanding complex subjects, especially if they're out of my specific area of interest.

However, I also find that things that are supposed to be "simple" often seem dauntingly overcomplicated to me.

No, I usually do not have a hard time understanding complex subjects. There are a few exceptions though. If I do not like the subject or am distracted by something else, I can lose my attention to detail. Certain parts of biochemistry are my weakest area in chemistry, as I just do not care to memorize every enzyme structure in multi step processes. I would rather spend my time engineering new materials that currently do not exist than to study old ones over and over again.

In my field, we have to attend many presentations on research projects. Occasionally there are a few that are so boring to me that I let my mind wander during the presentation. I can still follow what the main points are, just not certain parts that I do not care about. Yes, I have fell mentally asleep in them before, but I have the ability to look as if I am still wide awake with my eyes still open. This often happens when people dwell on proposed mechanisms that have little to no chance of actually happening. Do not get me started on natural product synthesis presentations, as they often talk just about failures rather than successes.

I don't really like delving too deeply into things; this is prompted by a sort of laziness, as well as maybe some ADHD.

Oh yes, subject matter containing those endless subtltiles, and involving focused social skills (as is often the case) are challenging -- to say the least.

There are a lot of people who claim to understand complex subjects, but disagree with each other about them. Sometimes, it is a matter of caring about different priorities or values, especially in politics, but to a lesser extent almost everywhere. Modern engineering really began when Thomas Young realized that when he walked on a bouncy surface, it had to deflect noticeably to support his weight, but every surface also had to deflect to support every weight, just not enough to see easily. Everything is a spring, but most engineers still try to think in terms of rigid and flexible parts, and get a lot of trouble over the variations that they ignore. I have a better than average understanding of several engineering principles, but still struggle with other branches, let alone the rest of the library.