Everything I've wanted to know about electronics...but was afraid to ask!

[Chris K]

Sometimes I feel like I've worked in investments for 20 years...but I don't know what shorting the market means. Or an accountant who works with automatic statistical software...but doesn't understand what a p value is. Or (last one I promise) a physics teacher who wishes he could ask someone to explain quantum mechanics to him in a way he'll finally understand without fear of getting fired.

I think I've been pretty honest on the forum about what a novice I am at this or that's been crystal clear from some of the questions or statements I've made. I need to confess, there are things about this endeavor I don't understand that are so basic to radio and TV restoration I've been afraid to put out there for fear of exposing how clueless I am.

I'm not a stupid guy...I teach biology at a university in Philadelphia PA so I think I have the grey matter to learn and get better at this so I'm going to bite the bullet and ask the questions I've been too cowardly to ask in a series of posts...one question per post and please, I invite everyone to school me and explain as best they can. Your answers will probably lead to more stupid questions! If the forum moderators think this should be posted in another category, please let me know and I will be happy to do so. Perhaps there are others like me lurking around on VK who are in the same dilemma and would find this helpful.

So...here I go...embarrassing question #1

When I watch YT videos by Shango, Bob A., Paul Carlson et. al. I often hear them refer to a resistor "pulling the voltage down" or "pulling this to ground."
What does that mean exactly? I have always thought of resistors well, resisting the flow of voltage that passes through them and restricting the flow of electrons. Why would DC voltage choose to take a path through something that's resistant to flow instead of where it is intended to go? To my brain, it sounds like water being more apt to flow upstream over a dam than downstream. Does a 100K resistor pull voltage to ground more than a 1K resistor and, if so, why?

Somebody please help me