Ask HN: Do you recall any book or course that made a topic finally click?

Article summary

The article asks readers to share books or courses that helped them understand a difficult topic. The author shares their own experiences with Stanford's EE261 course and fast.ai courses, which helped them understand Fourier Transform and deep learning. Readers are invited to share their own stories of how a particular resource helped them grasp a concept. The discussion is not limited to computer science topics.

Main themes

• educational resources
• learning experiences
• complex topics
• intuitive understanding
• personal anecdotes
• philosophy and spirituality

What commenters say

• A book or course can provide a crucial explanation that makes a complex topic suddenly click into place.
• Some resources, such as 'Div, Grad, Curl, And All That' and 'The Elements of Computing Systems', are particularly effective at providing intuitive understanding of difficult concepts.
• Personal experiences and anecdotes can be powerful tools for learning and understanding complex ideas.
• Different people may have different preferences for learning resources, and what works for one person may not work for another.
• Some commenters believe that certain books, such as the Tao Te Ching, offer valuable insights into the nature of reality and human experience.
• Others are skeptical of the value of such books, seeing them as vague or nonsensical.
• The effectiveness of a resource can depend on the individual's prior knowledge and experiences.
• A resource that provides a clear and concise explanation of a complex topic can be incredibly valuable for learning and understanding.