Even if one could memorize the contents of a book and reproduce them verbatim, this would only be duplicating information that has been verbalized in the past. To understand the book is to be able to predict what will happen in the future. The degree of understanding is measured not by how correctly one can reproduce past information, but by how correctly one can predict future information.
- understanding as ability to foresee the future.
- foretelling the future. - future prediction - prediction
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