As a technical writer, something I run into a lot – particularly with respect to computing technology – is people thinking they don’t or can’t understand something because they’re getting hung up on some abstruse technical detail that isn’t actually necessary in order to appreciate what’s going on.

To pose an admittedly slightly ridiculous example, you don’t need to understand the precise quantum-mechanical mechanisms through which a light bulb converts electrical current into visible photons in order to understand the basic operating principle behind a light switch. From the standpoint of understanding how a light switch works, you can safely treat the light bulb itself as a black box – it’s sufficient, for that purpose, to know that electrical current goes in and visible light comes out, even if you have no idea how.

Ultimately, most stuff is going to be like that: if you drill down far enough, eventually you’ll run into a black box of one sort or another – some part of the overall system where you know what goes in and what comes out, but haven’t the slightest clue what’s going on inside.

If you treat that as equivalent to having no understanding whatsoever, you’re setting yourself up to be manipulated by any random asshole who can put on a plausible display of authority. You’ve gotta allow yourself credit for having a general idea of what’s going on – it’s a heck of a lot better than having no idea at all!