The Feynman Technique- Learning explained!
One of the fond memories I have of school are the lectures by our beloved English teacher, Joseph Sir.
Once he asked the class, ‘ What is the difference between studying and learning?’. For schoolkids such as ourselves, both were somewhat same, we felt they were synonyms or maybe two words used in different circumstances.
But the simple explanation he gave which differentiated Learning and studying shifted the perspective for many students in my class.
He said, ‘You learn to ride a bicycle, but you study to pass the history test’!
To learn means to gain knowledge or skill by doing, practicing, being taught or experiencing something. To study means to read, memorize facts, figures in order to understand about a subject.
How to Learn
To acquire mastery over any subject, don’t act like a rocket — act like your nails, or act like ants.
We don’t see our nails growing — every day, they look almost exactly the same as the previous day. But in a week or two, you start noticing the growth and have to clip them.
That is the magic of consistent progress.
On the other hand, a rocket takes off in a matter of seconds, and then flames out.
Learning something every day for an hour is far better than doing a 6-hour study session and then not showing up for the next 6 months — that is the rocket approach.
It is okay to be slow. Move an inch every day, but move.
The Feynman technique
Let’s see how it works.
1. 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁.
Write down everything you know about the topic. Each time you run into new sources of information, add them to the note.
2. 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱.
Write plain and simple so even a child can understand what you’re talking about.
It turns out that one of the ways we trick ourselves is that we use complicated vocabulary and jargon and it masks our lack of understanding.
When you write out an idea from start to finish in simple language that a child can understand, you force yourself to understand the concept at a deeper level and simplify relationships and connections between ideas.
Some of this will be easy. These are the places where you have a clear understanding of the subject. At other points, you will struggle. These are the points where you have some gaps in your understanding.
3. 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗽𝘀.
What are you missing? What don’t you know?
Only when you encounter gaps in your knowledge — where you forget something important, are not able to explain it, or simply have trouble thinking of how variables interact — can you really start learning.
Identifying the boundaries of your understanding also limits the mistakes you’re liable to make and increases your chance of success when applying knowledge.
4. 𝗢𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗲 + 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘆 + 𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆.
Piece together your notes and begin to spin a tale using concise and simple explanations.
The ultimate test of your knowledge is your capacity to convey it to another.
Feynman’s approach intuitively believes that intelligence is a process of growth rather than genetic or god- given.
“I wanted very much to learn to draw, for a reason that I kept to myself: 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱. It’s difficult to describe because it’s an emotion. … It’s a feeling of awe — of scientific awe — which I felt could be communicated through a drawing to someone who had also had that emotion. I could remind him, for a moment, of this feeling about the glories of the universe.”
— Feynman discussing the intersection of art and science.
“The person who says he knows what he thinks but cannot express it usually does not know what he thinks.”
— Mortimer Adler
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — -
