Study methods are usually about what you can do on your own time to get the most out of your learning, but involving someone else in your process can be helpful too. That’s what theoretical physicist Richard Feynman thought, at least in theory. According to many possibly apocryphal sources, the Nobel Prize winner once said, “If you can’t explain it in simple terms, you don’t understand it. The best way to learn is to teach.”
How to Learn Faster with the Feynman Technique (Example Included)
It is quite possible that Feynman did not say that at all. The closest documented quote I could find, from his colleague and fellow physicist David Goodstein, was: Feynman's inability to break down a subject (in this case a complex particle physics question) to a level that a first-year student could understand meant that science was not effectively understanding the subject.
But whether or not this study method actually comes from Feynman, the basic principle — to know you really understand a subject, you should be able to teach it to someone else — seems sound. Here’s how the Feynman study method works, and how you can use it to master new concepts.
The Feynman Study Technique is so popular for learning and retaining information that it is recommended to students and even professionals in the real world. It is a four-step technique that, when applied correctly, should help you fully understand the content you are studying. Here are the steps involved:
