The Feynman Technique is the most effective method to unlock your potential, develop deep understanding, and quickly learn any subject.
Richard Feynman was not only a Nobel laureate in Physics but also a master of demystifying complex topics. His key learning insight: complexity and jargon often mask a lack of understanding.
Feynman’s learning technique comprises four key steps:
- Select a concept and map your knowledge
- Teach it to a 12-year-old
- Review and Refine
- Test and Archive
Let’s delve deeper into these steps.
Feynman’s secret lay in understanding the true essence of a concept rather than merely knowing its name, leading to his remarkable achievements. This learning technique can be applied universally, irrespective of the subject.
The person who says he knows what he thinks but cannot express it usually does not know what he thinks.
Mortimer Adler
Step 1: Select a concept and map your knowledge
Start with a blank page. Write everything you know about your chosen topic, using a different color pen for new information as you learn. This creates a visual map of your growing understanding.
Step 2: Explain it to a 12-year-old
Once you feel confident you understand it, write down your idea in words that a child would understand. You haven’t grasped it fully if you can’t explain it simply.
Writing things down may sound simplistic, but it’s anything but. Writing things down helps in a lot of ways. First, it encourages better thinking. Second, you can organize your thoughts. Third, clear writing reveals gaps in understanding; it’s hard to ignore mistakes when you see them so clearly on the page. Fourth, writing will allow you to review and refine your work.
Anyone can make a subject complicated but only someone who understands can make it simple.
Step 3: Review and Refine
Reading and reviewing your work will not only expose the areas where you don’t understand things as well as you think you do, it offers other benefits.
Reviewing your work (often, see step 4) allows you to improve your understanding, measure your progress, and develop new ideas.
When you find weak spots, return to the source material. Study those sections until you can explain them simply. When you realize your understanding has improved and the section could be improved, re-write it.
Step 4: Test and Archive
Test your understanding by teaching someone else. Do not use your notes, but refer to them if necessary.
Once satisfied, archive your simple explanation in a learning binder for periodic review.
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The Feynman Technique is the foundation of accelerated learning and lasting retention.