What does it mean to Understand? While washing dishes, I suddenly thought about the question [What is Understanding?] and quickly jotted down my thoughts.

In response to the question "What is X?"

Level 0 Understanding:

Unable to answer the question at all.

Level 1 Understanding:

Can quote something written in another book or source in response to the question.

Personally, I would like to categorize this as 'not understanding' and place it in Level 0.

However, I refrained from doing so to avoid confusing readers before getting to the main point.

In school exams, if you remember the textbook content and can quote it in response to a time-limited question, you can get good grades.

This has created a social convention that such behavior equates to 'understanding'.

It was only a training method useful when humans had no computers to install knowledge.

It's merely measuring 'installation efficiency'.

If we consider this as 'understanding', then search engines is entities with higher levels of understanding than humans.

Quote from "Phenomenology as non-logical steps" by Eugene Gendlin (1989).

Level 2 Understanding:

Can answer the question in your own words, not just with quotes.

Being able to answer 'in your own words' and 'whether the explanation is true' are unrelated.

"Combustion is the process of releasing a substance called phlogiston" --- An incorrect explanation of combustion: Phlogiston Theory - Wikipedia

Understanding is a hypothesis and 'whether the hypothesis is correct' requires verification after the hypothesis is formed.

There are people who can and cannot create hypotheses.

The ability to create a hypothesis is considered a deeper understanding.

Level 3 Understanding:

Can express the question in a form of an experiment that is verifiable.

Level 2 focused on whether it's possible to explain in words.

There's room for choice in these 'words':

Can explain in natural language.

Can implement in a programming language.

When implemented in a programming language, the behavior of the implementation allows for verification of the correctness of the understanding.

Falsifiability is introduced to understanding.

It's not limited to programming; the important thing is being able to 'express it in a form of a verifiable experiment'.

It's a clearer form compared to unverifiable discourse.

This page is written because I have reached a 'Level 2 Understanding' of 'Understanding'.

Whether what I have written here is correct or not will be verified after reaching Level 3 Understanding.

Translated from 理解の段階