The best way to learn anything

After reading this post, we’ll see:

• What is The Feynman technique

• The steps.

TL; DR;

We think we know something. But mostly, we don’t. Use this technique to learn stuff which truly matters to you.

In an interview, I was asked a question. I was highly confident I knew the answer in & out. But when I began to answer, I stumbled. I struggled to proceed.

I was shocked. In my mind, this was a piece of cake. But when the time came, I had failed.

What had happened?

In reality, I did not know the answer. I merely had the illusion of knowing it.

After hours of research, I found the best medicine to solve such problems.

An amazing teacher

Mr. Richard Feynman was one of the 20th century’s most influential scientists. He played a key role in the Manhattan project. And also wrote a detailed report on what caused the Challenger space shuttle disaster.

But, according to him, it wasn’t his intelligence alone that made him brilliant. It was his framework of understanding and simplifying complex topics.

The Feynman technique

It contains 4 steps.

Identify a topic.

This can be anything you want to truly understand. My only tip here is to choose something specific, not the entire branch.

Teach it to a child.

The beauty here is simplicity. Explain using simple language. Imagine you’re explaining to someone who knows 0 about the topic. How would you approach it?

There are a few reasons why this works. The most important one = teaching others gives you the highest knowledge retention. It’s an active learning method. Unlike reading, which is passive.

The other reason why it works:

1. Immediate feedback.

2. You can’t hide.

Pro tip - Wired has an excellent series of videos. They explain the same concept in 5 levels of difficulty. From kids to Phd holders. This’ll give you great examples on how to simplify the complex.

Find knowledge gaps.

The previous step will show you what you don’t know. There will be points you

1. Plain don’t know.

2. Know, but don’t know how to simplify.

Simplify.

The final step is to fill our own knowledge gaps. And to simplify the complex. This has great benefits, and it also counters the forgetting curve:

Knowledge is retained when you revisit the concept periodically.

That’s it!!

I hope this concept helps you become a better learner . If you found this helpful, share with someone who will benefit.

Further reading:

• The 'illusion of knowledge' that makes people overconfident.

P.S: Did you like this idea? Let me know. I personally respond to each mail.