Elemental Resist Passives

Can someone explain to this noob how elemental resist passives work? Take this early build for a Templar for example:

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgUAAnEEswVbFE0yiUbXTdhX4l3GYG135YFvgziLjIx2nYCePKIA3fPhc-0g8B8=

I have two +10% elemental resist nodes with Celestial Walker and Body And Soul. If I am wearing no gear, I don't see any elemental resist on my character screen. If I put a +24% All Elemental Resist Kite Shield on, I see 24% fire, lightning, and cold resist. How do these passive nodes apply to your resist and how is that displayed on your character screen?


Thanks for taking the time to respond.

Each difficulty level adds -20 res, so if you are in cruel and have two 10% passives, you should have 0 res without gear.

That makes sense now, thank you.