alt Hacker NewsA term that gets tossed around in math is "mathematical maturity." It's similar to what you see in other fields - e.g. learning how to program, learning how to make music, learning how to cook - that involves many "aha" moments and reshapes your perspective. Math is full of such steps, moreso than most other endeavors, probably because the main limit is the abstract reasoning itself.
Math is full of such steps, moreso than most other endeavors, probably because the main limit is the abstract reasoning itself.
That, as well as how long we've been doing it (thousands of years!) and so how much of the more accessible parts we've explored very thoroughly.