[Ialdaboth]

I believe the "understanding" bit goes hand-in-hand with the fetishization of nerdy intellect by the modern upper-class (especially in the managerial and IT urban elite). Whereas one recurring theme of classical art had to do with the sacred, and the experience of the sacred - something you can feel, but not something you can understand.

[celticmusic]

I still remember the day I got lectured by someone on how I didn't really understand the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion. Maybe not, but it spoke to me in a way no other anime ever did and it's easily the #1 for me.

I obviously understood SOMETHING about it, even if it was just my own understanding.