I am often amazed at how the simple questions of a subject are far more difficult to answer than the complex ones. By simpler ones I mean the ones that a layman would ask to a professional. This is true for most of the disciplines in which I’ve worked, and true for most of the areas in which I have interest.
The only way to proceed when one cannot answer the simple questions is to dive in and manage to conquer the detailed and concrete ones. For literature, when one cannot understand the meaning of stories or the aesthetics of language, they go ahead and read them, analysing the rhythmic patterns, the symbolic purposes and story structures. From here one can more confidently look back to the initial questions and try again to answer them. If it still doesn’t work, one then has to keep digging in and come back after a while in the same manner.
Mathematics too. It is very hard to answer questions such as why it is legit to put numerical problems in geometrical forms, what is the difference between 0 and 1, or why prime numbers behave like this. But what we can do is to manipulate our mathematical tools and play the numbers or the shapes around. We can even use the solutions of these questions for practical applications. The juniors try to answer the complex questions, with ornate details and meticulous calculations. The seniors can sit down and think about the simpler ones, and wait for the time to come when they have an inspiration to approach them.
From this perspective mathematics sound a lot like what the epic poets do: summoning the muse in order to approach the unapproachable, and give credits to some existance larger than themselves that mobilizes the poets’ hands to embody a field of knowledge.
That is also why I find sufficient reasons to toil when I don’t have a clue for what is going on in the big picture. I used to analyse pedantically every words with their etymology, phonetics and so on. That was something that I could do. The bigger and simpler questions can then be approached when one grasps the shape and mechanisms of building blocks and see exactly how a microcosm works.
When even the details cannot be understood, most pedagogy would train kids with rote memories and skills, and that is also the only thing left that can be done. All in all, that which is within one’s capability is worth doing. And it is worth putting time and effort no matter how trivial that seems to be.