The Feynman Technique is a powerful method for mastering any subject, regardless of its complexity. Developed by Richard Feynman, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, the technique enhances learning by forcing you to teach what you’ve learned in the simplest terms possible.
Merely reading a book or cramming for an exam isn’t enough to embed knowledge deeply. Real learning occurs when you can clearly explain a concept and apply it across multiple contexts. The Feynman Technique encourages this depth of understanding, transforming new information from isolated facts into useful knowledge.
When you truly learn something, you equip yourself with tools you’ll use for life. The more knowledge you accumulate, the less you’ll be caught off guard, as new experiences will often connect to things you’ve already grasped.
However, most of us move through life memorising enough to get by in school but rarely pause to actively engage in deliberate learning. As a result, life often leaves us bewildered when new situations arise, hitting us hard because we haven’t built a robust framework for understanding.
To avoid the confusion that comes with encountering the unexpected, the Feynman Technique ensures that you can access and use information fluidly—like reaching for a chair.
The Feynman Technique
There are four simple steps to the Feynman Technique, which we’ve adapted from Feynman’s own approach:
- Pretend to teach a concept to a sixth-grader.
- Identify gaps in your explanation and return to the source material.
- Organise and simplify the content.
- Transmit (optional): Teach the concept to someone else.
Step 1: Pretend to Teach It to a Child
Start by writing down everything you know about the topic, as if you were explaining it to a child or even an inanimate object like a rubber duck (a common debugging technique among software engineers). The goal is to strip away all jargon and complexity, leaving only the core ideas. If you can’t define terms clearly and simply, you likely don’t fully understand the subject.
This step forces you to grasp not just the what but the why behind each concept, ensuring you’re not simply repeating something you’ve heard without genuine comprehension.
Step 2: Identify Gaps in Your Knowledge
During your initial explanation, you’ll naturally stumble upon areas where your understanding is incomplete. This is where real learning begins. Return to the source material or consult additional resources until you can confidently explain the concept in basic terms. The absence of jargon signals that you’ve truly internalised the knowledge.
Step 3: Organise and Simplify
Now, take your simplified notes and organise them into a coherent narrative. If anything sounds unclear as you read it aloud, revisit step two. The goal is to create a clear, concise explanation that you could easily share with anyone.
Step 4: Transmit (Optional)
Although optional, teaching the concept to someone unfamiliar with it is the ultimate test of your understanding. Whether it’s a friend, colleague, or an audience, their questions and feedback will further refine your knowledge.
The Power of True Knowledge
Feynman knew that intelligence is not about memorising names or facts but about truly understanding how things work. He famously said, “Knowing the name of something doesn’t mean you understand it.”
This mindset shifts the focus from surface-level knowledge to deep comprehension, enabling you to manipulate concepts and generate new insights. It’s a philosophy that aligns with the work of psychologist Carol Dweck, who emphasises the importance of a growth mindset—a belief in learning through effort rather than being stuck in a fixed state of knowing or not knowing.
By using the Feynman Technique, you’ll not only learn more effectively, but you’ll also think differently, uncovering new ways of seeing and interacting with the world. It’s a method that reveals the difference between simply “knowing” and understanding something well enough to teach it to anyone.
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