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.
Feynman stumbled upon 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 deeper, and faster…
— from ‘The Secret Algorithm Behind Learning’ by Shane Parrish, on Medium.com, October 2016.
I’ve always wanted to know something better than everyone else.
And I really like the word “Algorithm”. I come across that word regularly these days, and I have no idea what it means.
Fortunately, the Feynman Technique is free, and — as far as I can tell — easy to use. (Let me assure you, if I’m going to learn something better than everyone else, it needs to be easy.). So much for the “Algorithm” being “Secret”.
And leave it to Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman to not only help create the first atomic bomb, but also, to help us become a superior learners.
Dr. Feynman passed away in 1988, but his Technique for learning is apparently enormously popular. When I did a Google search for “Feynman Technique”, I was offered about 20 pages of links to various websites that wanted to help me learn the technique.
Like:
The Feynman Technique: The Best Way to Learn Anything
Boost Your Learning with the Feynman Technique
How to Use the Feynman Technique to Learn Anything
Never Forget an Idea Again with The Feynman Technique
Unlocking Academic Success
Along with his work in theoretical physics — did I mention the first atomic bomb? — Dr. Feynman was a pioneer in the fields of quantum computing and nanotechnology. He also played bongo drums whenever he had the chance. (See the photo above.)
As a youth, Feynman attended Far Rockaway High School in New York City, where he was quickly promoted to a more advanced math class, as one would expect if you’re going to win a Nobel Prize in physics someday. A test administered in high school estimated his IQ at 125, which was a decent score, but not fantastic. His sister Joan scored 126, and she later jokingly claimed to an interviewer that she was smarter than her brother.
Years later, Dr. Feynman declined to join Mensa International, saying that his IQ was too low. (Funny thing — that was the same reason I gave for not joining.)
I’ve learned a few things about Dr. Feynman, by using his Technique. In fact, I’m using it right now. At this very moment.
The Technique (as I am learning) works best if you are trying to learn something very difficult, like how to build a nuclear bomb. These days, any kid from a university physics class could probably build a nuclear bomb, but back in Dr. Feynman’s day, you need special learning techniques, especially if your IQ was only 125.
Step One is to pick a difficult concept or idea that you want to understand deeply. (I have picked, “The Feynman Technique”, but as it turns out, it’s not at all difficult.)
Step Two is to teach it to a child. Say, an 8-year-old child.
This is really Step Two. I know that’s hard to believe, coming from a theoretical physicist, but let’s run with this anyway.
The idea here is that you need to simplify the difficult concept down to its most basic level. When a person doesn’t truly understand something, they typically end up explaining it by using a lot of complex jargon — to fool themselves and other people. But when you truly understand something (as Dr. Feynman obviously did) you can explain it even to an 8-year-old. Or a very bright 7-year-old.
During this sharing process, you will discover parts of the concept that you can’t fully explain. That’s the indication that you don’t yet fully understand the concept, and you, yourself, need to learn more. So, back you go to the drawing board, to refine your knowledge.
The main problem with this Technique is finding an 8-year-old who wants to listen to you blather.
When you can’t find an 8-year-old (where have they all gone, these days?) you can still use the Technique, by simply writing down your explanation as if you were writing to an 8-year-old.
Thus — my Daily Post column, this morning. When I am done writing this, I expect to understand the Feynman Technique better than everyone else.
While learning this Technique, I discovered that I have another thing in common with Dr. Feynman, besides both of us not belonging to Mensa International.
In his 1985 memoir, Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!, he recalled holding meetings in strip clubs, drawing naked portraits of his female students while lecturing at Caltech, and pretending to be an undergraduate to deceive younger women into sleeping with him.
Students at Caltech staged protests over his alleged sexism, in 1968, and again in 1972. The protesters “objected to his use of sexist stories about ‘lady drivers’ and ‘clueless women’ in his lectures.”
Feynman recalled protesters entering a hall and picketing a lecture he was about to make in San Francisco, calling him a “sexist pig”. He later reflected on the incident, claiming that it prompted him to address the protesters, confessing that “women do indeed suffer prejudice and discrimination in physics, and your presence here today serves to remind us of these difficulties, and the need to remedy them.”
Granted, I have never lectured in physics at Caltech — or anywhere else, for that matter — or had people picket at my lecture in San Francisco. And I’ve never pretended to be an undergraduate, in order to deceive anyone.
But I have told sexist jokes about lady drivers and clueless women. And like Dr, Feynman, I have regrets about that.
But they were damn funny jokes.