[snogglethorpe]

Mild snarkiness aside, is the quote really inaccurate?

"Getting used to" [something] has a pejorative sense, but it also just means "becoming familiar with," and really understanding something is, in a way, simply being so familiar with it that reasoning about it is second nature... at some point, things just sort of start to make sense...

[hueving]

Not quite, you can get used to something without understanding it at all. Many people that fly are used to it but they don't understand the basic physics of flight at all.

[AndrewOMartin]

And who would you prefer in the pilot's seat?

To say suggest that you don't understand something without a formal underlying theory is one view, but not mine. I feel like I understand English (as in a deep understanding, not just the ability to interpret sentences) without anything like a set of rules, and everything like a set of experiences akin to a pilot's experience with flight.

[hueving]

What does that have to do with anything I said? I'm pointing out the difference between "understanding" and "getting used to".

[AndrewOMartin]

I'm refuting that difference.

[hueving]

Not very well. I'm not talking about pilots.

I fly with many frequent fliers that are completely comfortable with flying while having no technical understanding of the mechanics.

[AndrewOMartin]

My mistake. I misread the phrase "many people that fly" as "many people who pilot planes".