I speak with many engineers (both senior and junior) daily and one question I get asked a lot is "How do I retain the things I am learning". My answer to that is simple ... I do not.
Your perspective on learning is 100% right at the core of what makes an engineer thrive in today’s era. Shifting the focus from rote memory to understanding is definitely a game-changer.
Your perspective on learning is 100% right at the core of what makes an engineer thrive in today’s era. Shifting the focus from rote memory to understanding is definitely a game-changer.
The idea of not focusing on memorisation is spot on. I have always benefitted more from understanding concepts than from memorising them.
In real world, problems are not going to be clear. And having clear understanding enabled you to differentiate between problems & irrelevance.
This is also why it's 1000x better to understand the foundations more than the hot new thing.