Reading isn't working, now what?
Learning new ideas and information is challenging. We want to remain in the goldilocks zone of challenge, as described by Tom Senninger's Learning Zone Model. But what happens if we find ourselves in the Alarm Zone, encountering something that is too difficult for us to process given our current understanding?
When you're reading a book and you come across something you don't understand, you've got a few options.
Keep going
Perhaps the topic is being introduced now, and will be explained and expanded on as the author continues. You may gain clarity as you continue moving forward. This runs the risk of wasting time if the explanation isn't forthcoming, and if later topics build on the one you don't understand, they'll be even less comprehensible.
Look sideways
If the author is assuming understanding of the topic that you lack, you may choose to pause where you are in your learning with that resource, and seek other parallel resources that explain the topic this author is taking for granted. That might be something like a glossary or appendix, a Wikipedia article, another book, asking a professor, etc. Gain an understanding of the topic you're stuck on, and then resume where you left off.
Give up
I need to find a better title for this section. There are times where you'll pick a book to start reading and you'll find you simply don't have adequate prerequisite understanding to pursue it at all. Rather than looking sideways, it may make more sense to shelve this book for now, and find a more introductory book on the subject that covers the prerequisites better.
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