Technique for Learning
Learning and growing has become a new favorite activity of mine. During some of my downtime I started watching Luke Cage season 2. I wanted to share something that I am learning from combining two areas that run separately from one another, Luke Cage and Richard Feynman.
Recently, I was watching the current season of Luke Cage. Luke Cage would not be the place where you would think about Nobel Prize winning physicist Richard Feynman. However, I was astonished by a character named Camanche’s conversation with Mariah Dillard, these two are protagonists against working against Luke Cage. The details of the conversation focused on understanding how Mariah’s business purchased stock in a plastic company and moving from weapons trafficking. Camanche, played by Thomas Jones, explains to Mariah that a scam is a scam, even it is wearing a three-piece suit, and if you cannot explain what is happening to a seven year old, then you are the one being scammed.
This simple statement immediately reminded me of Richard Feynman’s topical learning process and a quote attributed to him.
“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.” —Richard Feynman
Feynman’s ability to learn and explain was remarkable because he took difficult concepts and broke them into their simplest forms. The Feynman lectures are widely referenced, YouTube videos are regularly added and many people are introduced to his way of thinking. What Feynman was able to do was not just a byproduct of his high intelligence, rather it is due in large part to his ability to take the time to review, explain, review, explain, until he is able to explain the concepts in simple terms. This time consuming and challenging process turns off many adults due to the time necessary to gain mastery and the repetitive nature of the process.
As advanced as adults are, by and large, we want to spend the least amount of time necessary on learning something new to gain mastery. Next once we have learned the general idea and terminology, we move onto the next topic or subject. Time and repetition are the ingredients necessary to have unrivaled understanding of a subject and concept. Here is Feynman’s Technique for learning:
- Choose a Concept
- Teach it to a Toddler
- Identify Gaps and Go Back to The Source Material
- Review and Simplify
I remember Feynman from my school years (I admired physics), remarkable person! His 'magic' of asking questions about kind of obvious things is a great part of mindset that we coaches can use, including explaining simply that you refer here.
I do this but instead of teaching a toddler - I teach my 80 year old Mom