When you're tinkering directly with a system, you understand it orders of magnitude better.

You're in a loop, interacting with it, making predictions about how it will respond to things you do.

This requires you to develop a kind of "theory of mind" of your "opponent".

You'll develop a visceral sense of "how it thinks".

It's an active interaction, a dance, not a passive absorption.

Your head is in the game, plugged into what's happening.