The Feynman Technique
The Feynman Technique, named after Richard Feynman, is a strategy that can be applied to learn almost anything. It focuses being able to explain a concept in plain, simple language to someone else who knows nothing about it.
Using this technique, you’ll be able to identify areas where you lack understanding. These are areas where you get stuck or revert to jargon (i.e., complex terminology). Using jargon tricks us into the illusion of knowledge.
Knowing about something isn't the same as knowing something (The collector’s fallacy).
Steps
- Choose a concept or idea you want to learn about.
- Write the concept you want to learn about on a blank note.
- Explain the concept in your own word.
- In your own words, write everything you know about the subject.
- Explain it as if you were teaching it to a 12-year-old.
- Organize your notes into a simple narrative that you can tell.
- Write out a complete idea in simple language. This can help you to fully understand a subject at a deeper level, simplifying relationships and connections between ideas.
- The areas where you struggle to keep it simple are areas where there are gaps in your understanding.
- Review and identify gaps in your explanation.
- Review your own notes. Read it out loud.
- Identify the boundaries of your understanding. You can only really start learning when you find gaps in your knowledge.
- Make sure you didn’t borrow any jargon from the source material.
- Return to source materials to better understand it.
- Practice Step 2 again with new, revised notes.
- Go through your notes twice a year to find out how much you retain.
- Explain it to someone who knows nothing about the concept.
- The ultimate test of your knowledge is your ability to convey it to another person. Not being able to explain something is one way to identify gaps in your knowledge.
Reference
Shane Parrish. “The Feynman Learning Technique.” Farnam Street, 22 Feb. 2021, fs.blog/2021/02/feynman-learning-technique/. Accessed 22 Mar. 2020.
The Feynman Technique
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