The Feynman Technique: How to Learn Anything Faster and More Efficiently - Deepstash
Behavioral Economics, Explained

Learn more about writing with this collection

How to make rational decisions

The role of biases in decision-making

The impact of social norms on decision-making

Behavioral Economics, Explained

Discover 52 similar ideas in

It takes just

7 mins to read

Here are the four core steps used in the Feynman Technique to accomplish your learning goals.

Write the concept as a heading on a blank piece of paper or notebook page.

After choosing the concept, write down everything that you already know about the subject on your paper. Think of every small piece of information that you can recall about the subject or have learned in the past. Keep this sheet handy to continue to write down what you learn.

Explain the concept using your own words, pretending that you are teaching it to someone else. Make sure that you use plain, simple language, without limiting your teaching to simply stating a definition. Put yourself up to the challenge of explaining an example or two of the subject to make sure that you can apply the concept to real life.

434

394 reads

Review the explanation that you came up with, and pinpoint the areas where you were not clear or you felt your explanation was shaky. Then, return to your source material and notes to better your understanding. Practice step #2 again with your new, revised notes.

​ To do this, you will want to use simple terms when you write the ideas or concepts in your own words. While complex, subject-specific jargon sounds cool, it confuses people and urges them to stop paying attention. Replace technical terms with simpler words, and think of how you could explain your lesson to a child.

434

392 reads

One example of an analogy created by Feynman encapsulates the power of his technique. He was able to take a question regarding human existence and simplify it into a simple sentence that even a middle-schooler could understand. Feynman said:

"All things are made of atoms-little particles that move around in perpetual motion, attracting each other when they are a little distance apart, but repelling upon being squeezed into one another."

Here, Feynman is saying that if you don't know anything about physics, the most important concept to understand is that everything is composed of atoms. In one sentence, he communicates the fundamental existence of the universe. This is a genius ability-not only for scientists, but also for writers of any subject. Get to your point as succinctly as possible, and avoid confusing and verbose language.

434

393 reads

If a concept is highly technical or complicated, analogies are also a good way to simplify them. Analogies are the foundation of learning from experience, and they work because they make use of your brain's natural inclination to match patterns.

Analogies influence what you perceive and remember, and help you process information more easily because you associate it with things you already know. These mental shortcuts are useful methods of processing new and unfamiliar information, and help people understand, organize, and comprehend incoming information.

434

392 reads

Read & Learn

20x Faster

without
deepstash

with
deepstash

with

deepstash

Access to 200,000+ ideas

β€”

Access to the mobile app

β€”

Unlimited idea saving & library

β€”

β€”

Unlimited history

β€”

β€”

Unlimited listening to ideas

β€”

β€”

Downloading & offline access

β€”

β€”

Personalized recommendations

β€”

β€”

Supercharge your mind with one idea per day

Enter your email and spend 1 minute every day to learn something new.

Email

I agree to receive email updates