There are two types of knowledge and most of us focus on the wrong one. The first type of knowledge focuses on knowing the name of something. The second focuses on knowing something. These are not the same thing. The famous Nobel winning physicist Richard Feynman understood the difference between knowing something and knowing the name of something and it’s one of the most important reasons for his success. In fact, he created a formula for learning that ensured he understood something better than everyone else.
It’s called the Feynman Technique and it will help you learn anything faster and with greater understanding. Best of all, it’s incredibly easy to implement.
- Pick a topic. It could be something that you don’t fully understand or something that you want to learn more about. It could be something that you know a lot about, this process will assess your level of understanding. Write down everything you know about that subject. When you learn something new, add to it. Look for gaps in your knowledge and inconsistencies. Are there any themes or principles that act as foundations for the subject? What are the rules or laws that apply in all circumstances?
- Pretend to teach the topic to a group of 8-10 year olds. How and where would you start? How would explain it in simple terms?
- When you discover a gap in your knowledge, return to the research phase until you have filled the gap and can explain the subject completely.
- Simplify, again and again. Use analogies and metaphors where appropriate. Repeat the process connecting the facts and themes. Try and find facts that undermine your principles. This is the process of testing them, making sure that they can stand up to scrutiny. Repeat until you find clarity.
Repet after me 🙂
1. Take a piece of paper and write the concept’s name at the Top.
2. Explain the concept using Simple Language.
3. Identify problem areas (gap in your knowlodge), then go back to the sources to review.
4. Pinpoint any complicated terms and challenge yourself to simplify them making them easy to undestand ( using simple worlds).
LearningNotebook by Leonardo 