Mastering Any Subject with The Feynman Method

Tags: #studying #productivity

The Feynman Method is a learning technique that emphasizes understanding over memorization. Named after the physicist Richard Feynman. I found out about this method after my high school physics teacher lend me a book about Feynman: Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!. It’s a funny and insightful book about Feynman’s life and work. I highly recommend it.

In this post, I’ll break down each step of the Feynman Method, talk about my specific implementation and tools that I use, and share some tips and tricks that I’ve picked up along the way.

Definition of Done

When learning some topics, I am a perfectionist to my detriment, while at others I become an immense procrastinator; it’s easy to get stuck in the learning phase. Having a clear, concrete, well-defined definition of done is a simple yet powerful tool that helps me overcome these hurdles.

Step 1: Identify the Topic and Scope

This step is about overcoming the first hurdle in learning any new topic: getting started. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information available on the internet. This step is about defining the topic and its scope.

Actions

  1. Clearly define the topic you want to learn.
  2. Determine the scope of your learning: what you need to know and what you can ignore.

Tools & Methods

  • Most important tool: Use ChatGPT to generate a list of topics to learn about.
  • Have a “canvas” to write down your thoughts. I use Obsidian for this.
  • Create a mind map to visualize the topic and its sub-topics.

Remember that this step should just consist of a high-level overview. Don’t get bogged down in the details. The goal is to get a sense of the topic and its scope, so set a timer, open up Google and ChatGPT, and start writing down your thoughts without overthinking it.

Definition of Done

You have a well-defined topic and a list of sub-topics or modules you need to cover.

Step 2: Initial Research

Now that the scope and topic are defined, it’s time to do some initial research. This step is about getting a high-level overview of the topic and identifying key terms and foundational theories. Basically solving the “I don’t know what I don’t know.” problem.

Actions:
  1. Do some initial research on the topic, based on the list of sub-topics you generated in the previous step.
  2. Identify key terms and foundational theories.
  3. Read a high level overview of the topic.

This last step can be done by just simply reading the Wikipedia page for the topic. I also like to use ChatGPT intensively for this step.

Definition of Done:

You can explain the topic at a high level and have identified key terms and foundational theories.

Step 3: Resource Collection

This step is about gathering resources to learn the topic. I like to use a combination of textbooks, papers, online courses, and any other educational material I can find. The most important part of this step is not necessarily the resources themselves, but making them extremly relevant and easy to find, by mentally linking the resources to the sub-topics or modules I identified in step 1.

Actions:
  1. Gather resources for each sub-topic or module.
  2. Organize the resources in a way that makes them easy to find.
Definition of Done:

You have a curated list of resources ready for deep diving.

Step 4: First Principles

By now, I would have a good understanding of the topic at a high level. This allows me to identify the “first principles” of the topic. I like to think of this step as the “understanding” phase; it’s all about understanding the topic in detail and testing your recall.

First Principles

A first principle is a basic, foundational, proposition or assumption. In my case, an example would be: “One of the first principles of aerodynamics is Bernoulli’s principle.”

This step is about gaining a deep grasp of the first principles. If the first principles are well understood, they can act as mental coat hooks to hang the rest of the knowledge on.

Actions:
  1. Learn the first principles of the topic.
  2. Test your recall: (pretend to) explain the topic to someone else.
  3. Identify gaps in your understanding and revisit those areas.
  4. Repeat steps 1-3 for each sub-topic or module.
Definition of Done:

You can explain the first principles of the topic and can reason with and logically derive the foundational theories.

Step 6: Deep Dive

This step is about diving deep into the topic and learning the details. I like to think of this step as the “knowledge” phase; it’s all about learning the details and testing your recall.

Actions:
  1. Learn the details of the topic.
  2. Test your recall: (pretend to) explain the topic to someone else.
  3. Identify gaps in your understanding and revisit those areas.
  4. Repeat steps 1-3 for each sub-topic or module.
Definition of Done:

You have a comprehensive repository of information about all the details of the topic and its first principles.

Step 7: The Actual Feynman Technique

This step is about applying the actual Feynman technique. It’s about taking the knowledge you’ve gained and distilling it down to its essence. I like to think of this step as the “wisdom” phase; it’s all about distilling the knowledge and testing your recall.

Actions:
  1. Write down the topic at the top of a blank page.
  2. Write down everything you know about the topic.
  3. Identify gaps in your understanding and revisit those areas.
  4. Repeat steps 1-3 for each sub-topic or module.
  5. Test your recall: (pretend to) explain the topic to someone else.
  6. Identify gaps in your understanding and revisit those areas.
  7. Repeat steps 1-6 for each sub-topic or module.
  8. Repeat steps 1-7 for the entire topic.
Definition of Done:

You can explain the topic in detail and have filled in any gaps in your understanding.