Well, you're editing the Latex version of the literate program. But since my development "style" is to make small changes, rebuild, test, and re-create the code and PDF, my "thinking" isn't focused on the "non-typeset" version.

Pick up a physics textbook. Copy down all of the equations. Throw away the textbook and learn physics only using the equations. That's what programmers do. They write down the "equations" but fail to explain the ideas.

Equations, like programs, are really just an "iconic form" of an idea. The idea, however, lives in the surrounding text.