How common is it to need to know the absolute inner workings of something in order to do it? (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 months ago by applemao@lemmy.world to c/adhd@lemmy.world

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Im wondering if this is a common adhd thing.

For example, I have always wanted to program, but I can't let myself start with some easy gui building block code. I need to understand how the code is interacting with the computer itself and know how they did it in the 80s. Then of course it's too hard for me and I give up.

Or if im making music, I need to do everything from scratch the hard way, making it as hard as possible (and killing any creative effort i had in the beginning).

It's the same with anything. I can't progress if I dont know the absolute reason why something is being done. And if I do it the easy way, I didn't do it right and took shortcuts so it was worthless.

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[-] Lucien@mander.xyz 20 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I'm am this way completely. If I don't fully understand all the details of something, I have no chance of remembering it. Elementary math classes were difficult in college because they infrequently included formal proofs, but as I progressed into more advanced courses I found I really loved math. The formal proofs made the difference. I need to be convinced that something is true; I can't simply take it at face value.

[-] applemao@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

I failed algebra 3 times haha, never got a solid base on math sadly. I understand it if it's applied to something, but I literally couldn't even do long division right now if I tried

this post was submitted on 22 May 2025

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