The Feynman Technique
The most effective way to learn.
“What I cannot create, I do not understand.” - Feynman
Richard Feynman was one of the greatest physicists of his time, he made major contributions to physics, revolutionising the field of quantum mechanics as we know it and eventually received a Nobel Prize in 1965.
He wanted the common man to understand and know a lot more about science, and so he came up with the “Feynman technique”.
He believed that you truly only know and understand something once you can simplify it to its core and explain it to anyone.
The truth is, clever people can make difficult things sound much easier than they actually are.
“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough”
The Feynman Technique
The Feynman technique can be simplified into a 4 step process:
1- choose a topic that you find interesting and are curious to learn about.
2- either explain all you know about it to yourself on a sheet of paper or try to teach it to someone else.
3- identify the gaps in your knowledge and try to refer to the source in order to fill those gaps.
4- Polish your understanding by simplifying and creating analogies.
“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.” - Feynman
The outcomes
The outcomes of this process are not only a better and clearer understanding but improved explanation skills.
It, in some ways, allows you to, overtime, master both the art of learning and teaching.
The Feynman technique begins and ends with teaching
“If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you probably don’t understand it yourself.”
- Einstein.
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