What is The Feynman Technique?

What is The Feynman Technique?

Let us begin by understanding what is the Feynman Technique. Albert Einstein famously said: “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” You must have noticed that when you have a thorough understanding of an idea, you are easily able to describe it in simple terms. You are also able to quickly identify your trouble regions because they are the ones where you get stuck or end up using jargon. The Feynman Technique is based on this theory.

The Feynman Technique is a technique for quickly learning or summarising a concept by describing it in plain, simple language. It is named after Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman, who was also known as "The Great Explainer" for his ability to communicate complicated concepts to others in simple, intuitive ways.

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Why Is The Feynman Technique Important?

Now that we have some idea of what is the Feynman Technqiue, can you answer the question as to why the technique is important? Perhaps you're dealing with an exam question. Or you're asked to explain something you thought you knew about. Your mind abruptly goes blank. You realise you know a lot less than you thought you know. Learning from the Feynman Technique prevents us from deceiving ourselves into thinking we're experts when we're really novices. Each phase of the process encourages us to face our ignorance, actively engage with the content, and clarify our knowledge.

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What Is The Feynman Technique : Feynman Technique Steps

We now know what is the Feynman Technique and why it is important. Let us now look at the steps that make up the Feynman Technique.

Select The Concept

Writing down exactly what you don't know gives you a place to start. For these Feynman technique steps, you must begin small. You only have one (or a few) pages to fill with information. On a single page, you can't possibly cover everything there is to know about "Evolutionary Research," "Economics," or "Psychology." Instead, concentrate on smaller, more specified topics.

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Explain It To Another Person

Reading a book and thinking you are simultaneously understanding is complete is a common learning mistake. Reading is not the same as understanding. You might even take notes while reading, but may not have actually absorbed the concept.

True comprehension, on the other hand, necessitates a more active procedure such as teaching. Begin by teaching the concept to yourself or someone else. Without consulting your notes, write a summary in your own words. Or, say it out loud to yourself. Then take it a step further by instructing others. Teaching creates a feedback loop in which criticism and inquiries can help us learn and improve our understanding.

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Refer To The Source Material

Learning something difficult takes multiple efforts most of the time. Returning to the original material is an explicit aspect of the learning process with the Feynman Technique. Reviewing your books and notes might help you consolidate what you are learning when there are gaps in knowledge or where the explanations aren't quite accurate. It will most likely take numerous iterations to get it right. The more you enhance your explanations, the more you'll comprehend.

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Simplify Your Explanations.

This is the last of the Feynman Technique steps. Every discipline has its own set of specialized words. While it is necessary to understand them, it is equally critical not to mistake jargon with concepts. The Feynman Technique entails using basic analogies to reduce our original explanations and refine our knowledge.

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We hope that this article explained well what is the the Feynman Technique. The Feynman Technique is a simple learning strategy for swiftly and easily comprehending concepts. However, it's more of a self-assessment approach for testing your comprehension of something you've studied than a full-fledged learning method. In any case, it's a useful notion to know for comprehending anything, whether you're in high school, college, the workforce, or just everyday life. If done correctly, one of the key advantages of learning from the Feynman technique is that it prevents memorisation from playing a large part. While retaining information is necessary for learning, it does not guarantee comprehension.

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