BASICS ARE BASIC, in the sense that:

They are what you learn first

They are what you learn BEFORE the “advanced” stuff

You often have no choice but to get minimally competent at them — or else can’t proceed, potentially can’t unlock any ROI (return on investment)

And thus are also most COMMON

=again give illusion of being easy (common therefore easy)

 

Also

BASICS, the necessary basics to start — must be accessible

If they are not — then that endeavour, by definition — becomes very rare

(If you can’t even start something unless with great effort — you will not likely attempt, let alone master it. We focus our attention on endeavours that provide us with the highest ROI)

Thus most common human endeavours, statistically — are ACCESSIBLE to humans

Thus giving the illusion of being basic, at least on a basic level

 

but

BASICS are NOT basic in that:

 

Mastering basics is hard

Which shouldn’t be a surprise. Mastering most things is hard

Anything can be made hard, by finding more nuance, more detail

Arguably mastery of basics is mastery period

arguably all the advanced concepts are downstream from the basics

But that still proves my point:

just because something is basic — doesn’t mean you doing it basically is you doing it perfectly

 

Furthermore — the commonness of BASICS makes them actually more difficult to master:

-you think you already mastered the basics — therefore are blind to improvements

-you like to view yourself as “higher level” — therefore again, you refuse to step down and do the necessary work on your basics

-and even on a conscious level — once you subconsciously learn to no longer focus on them, to operate automatically — your bad habits ALSO become automatic

+sometimes your more advanced skills can compensate for weak basics — making it even more difficult to identify

and thus in that sense — basics can even be harder than advanced concepts

because with the latter — at least you retain the “beginner’s mind”, and fullness of attention

 

Therefore be always profoundly mindful of the basics

Don’t look to merely advance visually — make sure your basics also mature as you acquire new and more advanced skills and knowledge

And if you ever get stuck — there’s a very decent chance that your mastery of the basics doesn’t yet support you at the next level

And indeed if you ever learn something on a truly high level — you’ll learn just how difficult it becomes to continue progressing

But a big part of it lies not in some secret component — but in how your basic error is invisible to you

Learn to walk before you run, as they say. Easier said than done

Yet another “basic” idea that’s not so basic to live by