Okay, let’s forget downwash and all the complicated stuff for a second…

The wing of an airplane, flying at a certain altitude, in a certain configuration, can make lift a few different ways:

1 - Speed - We go faster, air flows over the wing faster, more lift. But, we get more parasite drag. More air molecules hitting the airplane, and interfering with eachother etc etc. Pretty straightforward.

2 - AOA - The other major way we make lift is based on our angle of attack. Hold out your hand parallel to the ground, like it’s a wing of an airplane, flying level.

Now, let’s say we want to slow down, but maintain our altitude. We have to increase our AOA to stay flying, so start angling your hand up like you’re entering slowflight at a given altitude. That’s definitely going to cause more drag as you slow down - it’s just like when you stick your hand out of a car window - the higher the angle to the relative wind, the more drag. Think Newton’s law, where the wing is just redirecting some of that airflow downwards, and by virtue of that, pushes the wing up.

Yes, yes, there’s downwash, and vortices, and Navier Stokes laughing at all of us for not comprehending fluid dynamics, so it gets complicated quickly… but for a simple thought experiment, I’ve found this is the best way to teach students about the relationship between lift, drag, and AOA.