THE FEYNMAN TECHNIQUE

Editor’s Note: Method of Learning by Richard Feynman

The Feynman Technique assumes great significance in this dynamic world, where change is the only constant. We all understand the importance of learning and we greatly value education in society, but let us dig a bit deeper. What is the difference between knowing and understanding? How do we ensure that we do not forget what we have learnt, immediately after the examination, or the immediate milestone? How can we make learning easy and fun? Thankfully, Richard Feynman has developed a technique for learning that will answer all these questions. Read this insightful post by Yatharth Soni, as he uncovers the Richard Feyman technique of learning and studying.

4 SIMPLE STEPS TO LEARN ANYTHING WITHOUT BREAKING SWEAT

Imagine preparing for a meeting, a presentation or a teaching session and realizing that you don’t have a solid understanding of the subject you will present.

Or you would like to be smarter, but you’re not sure how to do that. You want decent grades, or maybe when you hang out with your friends, you just want to sound smart.

But you find, like a lot of other people, that sometimes things go in one ear and come right out of the other. You learn stuff and then forget it, and when asked about various subjects it always seems that you can’t articulate your thoughts.

You are not alone, and today I am going to offer you some help.

Richard Feynman – Inventor of the Feynman Technique

The man who will help us to become more intelligent is now deceased, but in his lifetime this American physicist named Richard Feynman was quite well known for being able to explain very complicated concepts and topics of science to laymen like us. We try to understand the world around us but often we pick up a book and are totally confused by what we’re reading.

He has been described as a certified genius and was among the greatest physicists that ever lived. His mission was to make ordinary people aware about science and he came up with ideas as to how they might learn more and be able to articulate what they know to others.

The Feynman Technique – Universally Applicable

His method for learning things became known as the Feynman Technique, and his technique could work for any subject matter. Let’s say you want to wax over a beer at a bar about Greek philosophy, or you’d like to impress someone with your knowledge of the French Revolution, or maybe just pass a school exam. For all of that, this technique will help. The American philosopher Mortimer Adler once said :

The person who says he knows what he thinks but cannot express it usually does not know what he thinks.

Mortimer Adler

So, you think you know a lot of things like Blockchain technologies or how a TV operates. Then we’ll tell you, all right, big brain, explain what you know. You’re trying to do this but it seems you can’t get it through so you just say something like “Well, I know but I can’t describe it right now”.

We’ve all been in this situation.

This means that you don’t understand what you’re professing. According to Feynman, you should be able to describe it to someone else in the simplest words and pass on the information if you truly knew it.

Books By Richard Feynman

Recognizing vs Knowing

Feynman stated that with a lot of words, we can sometimes describe things, but we don’t really know what we are talking about. He said that there is a significant difference between recognizing something’s name and actually knowing something inside-out.

We may now look at something said by the great Oscar Wilde, a man who is maybe more quoted than anyone else. He said –

I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying.

Oscar Wilde

If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.

Albert Einstein

Now that we are acquainted with the background information and the applications of this technique, let us see how it works.

What is the Feynman Technique?

How to Learn Anything in 4 Steps

Step 1- Choose a Topic

You need to have a subject first, something you want to know more about. Learn and list in a notebook everything you know about the subject. This could be under any discipline, or be any term.

From gravity to  our solar system to business  to gardening, all goes. Any of the world’s concepts can be tackled using the Feynman approach. And if there are multiple sections to a definition (e.g. how the world began), you can use multiple paragraphs to describe it.

Step 2- Explain it to a child

The next step in the Feynman method of how to easily understand information is to tell a child what you know about your chosen topic. If you can successfully explain a concept to a child, you are on the right track.

When explaining the term, think about it as explaining what the concept is to a kid who has no context. Therefore, plain terms (no jargon) must be used and the details must be kept  to the point since children have a short attention span..

You can also explain the subject to yourself, perhaps by writing it down, in a manner that a child  would clearly get what you are explaining, if you want to actually test your understanding and comprehension.

Step 3- Know your knowledge gaps

It is possible that you can find a few  gaps in the philosophy that you will study and build on, now that you have demonstrated the notion to someone else. Then it’s back to the books to do more work on those topics and to really break down the data before you truly understand them. The goal is to make the data as clear as possible, as the Feynman method is all about that.

In doing so, making a simple description pushes you to actually consider and analyze what you hear yourself say and not simply skim the text.

Here are some questions that you may want to ask yourself to review your explanation:

• Is my interpretation of this subject clear enough to grasp for a 6th grader?
• How strong would my own understanding of this subject seem to this individual?
• In my experience or in my clarification of my knowledge, are there any gaps?
• Did I use some terminology or domain-specific complicated vocabulary?
• Did I miss something?
• How hard was it for me to give a simple description of the subject?
• How satisfied am I with my clarification and the topical information behind it.?

Step 4- Make use of analogies and simplify the concept further if required

The next step is to fill in these gaps to complete the puzzle until you have found the errors in your knowledge in step 3. Organize and simplify it as needed before explaining the concept like a story.

TIP: To relate the idea to what you already know, consider using an analogy. This has the benefit of enabling your mind to link old and new knowledge and remember the new idea better.

Why should I use the Feynman Method of Learning?

Any complex topic can be made easy if it is well-understood. So strive to understand  it or discuss the subject with people who have a better understanding than you do. When you’ve listened to them then you continue this journey in a very straightforward way to understand it yourself.

What Next?

Right now, go and use this strategy! Take out a blank sheet of paper and go through a concept you’re actually studying through the Feynman Technique. It’s just going to take a few minutes. Once you get the hold of it, it is an excellent way to learn concepts faster.

More Books By Richard Feynman

Editor’s Note:

This article is a great practical guide outlining tips for learning anything quickly, easily and permanently using the famous Feynman Technique.

The ability to turbocharge your learning quotient through the simple method explained in this article has been recognized as a Featured Snippet on Google too.

About The Author

Yatharth Soni is a young Internet entrepreneur, blogger, public speaker and educationist who partners with solopreneurs to grow their personal and professional brands, human-to-human.

Yatharth is the Founder of Writerians, a pioneer education start-up in e-learning that engages in providing free English lessons online.  He believes that mindfulness in the workplace is the key to success, a tenet he lives out through his interests in writing, music, geopolitics and computers.

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