[dj_mc_merlin]

You're right there. Or at least you definitely have a point.

I would question whether being able to see this pinhole perspective of the maths he's talking about really means I "understand" it, or if that's just a semantic game. I don't feel like I am any more able to do something with the information than a second ago, even though I "understand" it more.

[AlexSW]

Glad it made a bit of sense! But that's a fair point about whether it really constitutes 'understanding'.

I suppose it's equivalent here to whether knowing the meaning of a particular sentence in the alien language qualifies as understanding it, vs being able to meaningfully speak about it in this alien language, and use the sentence in a conversation. Seems like just semantics to me.