Comment by nomel

My professor said this was an inevitability that holds people back who don't understand it is. After a certain point, you can't understand it all, because actually understanding it requires understanding the 1000 page proof. After a certain point, in maths, you must rote memorize the tools, add them to your belt, and trust the centuries of work before you, so you can apply them to your problems. It serves no purpose to "understand" them, many cannot be put into an intuitive framework, and attempting to make "understanding" a prerequisite to your progress will mean you will eventually fail out of the program.