Mainly my way of learning (anything) is to go to first principles of the subject/topic that I am about to learn. That is to break down complicated things to their fundamentals and putting them back again. Of course, with technology unless you have a CS background that is not easy but nevertheless you can breakdown the concepts to get to a fundamental level so you can progress to the next level and be an expert in an area that you have a deep interest in.

Where am I going with this?

The point is to gain true expertise you need to fail many times. Experts can instinctively tell all the ways they have failed; failure is the natural part of the learning process. The confidence comes in the fact that you have a lived experience of your failure, and you can easily convey what/where it failed and what you learnt as a result of that failure.

Experts know what they know, and also know what they don’t know. They understand that their understanding has boundaries, and they’re able to tell you when they’re approaching the limits of their circle of competence. This is really important as this sets apart true experts from “other so-called experts”.

When it comes to truly learning about something think of the difference between reading an academic article and reading a newspaper article (or watching a YouTube video). While online influencers know more than the layman, they are not experts themselves. Instead, they are good at clearly and memorably communicating ideas, which is also an expertise but that does not make them an expert of the topic they are influencing or communicating. As a result, “popularisers” often get mistaken for experts.

Most experts naturally want to share what they know and can explain complex technology concepts in simple language that can be easily understood by a broad audience. More jargon used by an “Expert” usually means that they don’t fully understand the concepts behind that jargon.

Specific deep knowledge about any technology is earned, not learned, so as a result some don’t fully understand the ideas they’re talking about. Their knowledge is enough for a general conversation but not a deep conversation. As a result, when you ask about details, or first principles, or nonstandard cases, they don’t have good answers.

I am always wary of any “Expert” who can’t adapt their vocabulary to simple language and match the audience they are conveying the message to.

CK Note: In my reference to CS (Computer Science) – if you are curious and a self-starter you can still learn the fundamentals. Go and check out CS Unplugged here: CS Unplugged – Computer Science
without a computer.