I learned about Feynman in my teens as my mother had a couple of his books. I enjoyed them and have read all the others.
This post reminded me that I’ve used the Feynman Technique since then. Part of why people think I should be a teacher and/or am so smart comes from leveraging it. In a nutshell, one…
- Choose a Concept
- Teach it to a child
- Identify Gaps and Go Back to The Source Material
- Review and Simplify
For more details, read this Feynman Technique post.
Instead of a child and instead of writing it down, I simply explain concepts completely outside the expertise area of average people. It could be talking about computers, quantum mechanics, government, or in these days the immune system and vaccines and COVID. Putting myself in the context of someone else, what they might know, and especially getting the feedback of what they ask puts me in a better position of better understanding the topic. Especially, coming back and simplifying when I go to explain it again and again.
The iterative nature of the process is really scientific.
Polymath Parent 