well this topic is highly subjective, maybe some people can learn a 40% from scratch in a short time, idk... but I'm 42 and learned typing without watching the keyboard in school at 14, and I type since then with all fingers without watching (my main keyboard for many years was the model M), some time ago I became interested in all these new mechanical keyboards and I've bought a 60% and I found it easy to learn, then I've bought a Sofle V2.1 RGB and I've found a bit difficult to learn the vertically staggered layout, but learned it in a couple of months, then I've built myself a dactyl-manuform and also happily learned it in a few months... then I have this bm43 that I try to use but I can't, I'm not comfortable and not fast, and I don't enjoy it, from time to time I take it out and retry... idk maybe my brain is wired in a way that I can't be proficent on a 40% =_)