I understood some videos really well on the first watching, but some videos on the same technical level were like- "what?... Ooh, maybe that's okay... Oh... Yeah". Total discomfort.
It's the areas of Math where you already have decent groundings, you will find that you can take more with you from 3b1b.
Same with Feynman's Lectures. If you are a smart person but no formal background in Physics, they are fun, sure. But you read the same lectures as a Physics undegrad in your Junior or Senior year, your 'return' from reading those lectures goes up five-fold.
Is there a path (short of going through a Physics undergrad curriculum itself) to enjoy and get more 'return' from Feynman for someone without formal Physics background? Any recommendations of books to read prior to undertaking Feynman?
There are many more things you can do that will be enjoyable to you.
Going through a Physics undergrad makes you do things you otherwise won't do. Those things, done over 3-4 years for some thousands hours transform you in no small way.
While you are doing this, you are reading Feynman, and it hits you on a completely different way. You also begin to read between the lines, and you start to apply those kinds of tools to other areas of Physics that aren’t explicitly mentioned in the Lectures.
But it's not something that you need to chase and they are neither unique set of things available only in the Lectures and nowhere else.
Just do something or read something where you are better suited to get 'returns'.
