Understanding something deeply usually makes you less interested in oversimplifying it.

Simplification is what you do from a distance. Up close, the exceptions and conditions become visible, and the confident summary starts to feel dishonest. Depth of understanding is often marked by an increasing reluctance to state things plainly, which reads as hedging to people who have not been that close.

Use this as a rough gauge of how well you or anyone else knows a subject. Bold, exception-free claims usually come from the middle distance. If you catch yourself making one, ask what you are leaving out and whether you actually know the boundary conditions. Often the answer is instructive.