Learning difficult concepts can often feel overwhelming. The jargons, equations, and theories can leave students feeling lost and frustrated.
We all've been there.
However, there's a powerful learning technique that can help simplify even the most intricate topics. Meet Richard Feynman. He was not only a Nobel laureate in Physics but also demonstrated a strong drive towards learning and thinking out of the box.
Feynman believes that complex and difficult terms and jargons demonstrate a lack of understanding. And his best tip for learning is using The Feynman Technique. It helps break down and distill concepts into manageable, simple ideas.
Here's how The Feynman Technique works:
Step one: Choose the concept that you want to understand better. Step two: Teach it to a child. Grab a younger sibling if you have one (or pretend to have one if you don't). Explain the concept as if you were teaching it to a young child who has no prior knowledge of the subject. Use simple language and analogies to make the concept easy to understand.
Check out how neuroscientist Bobby Kasthuri explain brain neural connections with ease:
Step three: As you teach the concept, pay attention to areas where you struggle to explain or where your understanding is unclear. These gaps indicate areas that require further study and clarification.
Step four: Go back to your study materials and review the concept, focusing on the areas where you identified gaps in your understanding. Simplify the material further, using plain language and straightforward explanations.
That's it!
The Feynman Technique is extremely simple, but its execution is harder than you think. We so often rely on jargons, acronyms and complex terms, and in a sense these terms assume mastery of certain knowledge. And we all know how making assumptions can lead to poor outcomes.
By teaching a concept in simple terms, identifying knowledge gaps, and reviewing and simplifying the material, you can gain a deeper understanding and mastery of even the most challenging topics in no time.