Feynman Technique | Learning Process
Richard Feynman was an American physicist awarded with a Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on quantum electrodynamics. For those (like me) who only grasped a few words from this sentence, Feynman has still a lot to teach regarding the learning process.
#1 Dump & Teach
The first step is to vomit everything you can remember from a topic. Use simple language that any child can pick up. What is the probability of a child understanding the law of supply and demand? Close to zero. But they understand that if the price of a toy was 10$ and is now 20$, their parents are less likely to buy it (and more crying is needed).
The idea behind using basic language and examples is to avoid masking a lack of knowledge with a few fancy words. I would argue this all comes to ego. First, using complex words make us look smarter. Second, when using elementary examples to explain complex subjects, we make it look very simple. But, we want to show how complex things are — and how smart we are. And third, when we don't understand something fully, it's easier to hide behind the technical terms, than to admit a lack of understanding. I'm guilty of all three.
Just to clarify, the philosophy is not eliminating complex words from your vocabulary, but to prove your level of understanding without them. If you struggle to put things clearly using basic concepts, you either lack comprehension or lack the effort to simplify things. We can all recall some Professors who made us feel dumb for not picking anything they mentioned in a 2-hour-class. I've been there.
Dr. Seuss wrote his lifetime bestseller book with only 50 words. You can simplify things too.
“I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something.”
#2 Re-Learn it
You found a few principles that you can't properly explain. What should you do next? Go back to the books, summaries, videos, articles, or google, and spend some time re-learning the material. Next, try to come up with a basic explanation, jargon-free.
Step one and two strengthen the acquisition of knowledge in any subject. The Feynman technique is quite similar to active recalling — recalling content without sneaking into the book.
“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.”
#3 Review & Organize
After having a set of good notes, liberated from complex words and ideas, you can easily organize them more systematically. For this, you can either create a digital file or stick to the paper. The advantage of maintaining a folder of simplified notes on different topics is having a system that you can always revisit to review the material at hand, and quickly grasp some forgotten information.
#4 Share Knowledge!
This again has to do with teaching, to reinforce the learning process. After going through all of these steps, why don't you just teach a particular topic? This process allows you to share knowledge in a particular subject while becoming more fluent.
Although I'm not sure my 12-year-old brother will care enough to hear about international economics, I can, at least, pretend I'm explaining it to him.
#5 Not Feynman's idea
Well, this is not a Feynman's step of the process, still, I think it is important to highlight it. After grasping the main ideas, there a few techniques that can reinforce the acquisition of knowledge:
Review the material from time to time — also called spaced repetition.
Use techniques such as the memory palace to create associations with the material and increase retention.
Create the habit of crossing information from different fields — perhaps referring to a physics principle as an example of another field.