> I have attempted to deliver [these lectures] in a spirit that should be recommended to all students embarking on the writing of their PhD theses: imagine that you are explaining your ideas to your former smart, but ignorant, self, at the beginning of your studies!
I find it gets harder and harder to do as you progressively become more affected by the topic. I like to think I'm pretty good at explaining concepts in physics to lay audiences, but the more real physics I do the more I think like a physicist, and the less I can see what an explanation looks like to the layman.
Quantum mechanics is the worst. I dislike a lot of the "popular science" language and analogues used to describe it, but the real (academic) pedagogical material is completely inappropriate for regular people. I'm worried that I'll be an inscrutable physicist before I grok it well enough to explain to a highschooler, though.
-Richard Feynman