My summary of the technique: 1. Choose the concept you want to understand 2. Take a blank piece of paper, write the name of that concept at the top of the page 3. Explain the idea to yourself as if you were teaching it to someone who does not understand it at all 4. Whenever you get stuck, go back to the reference material, lectures or a teacher assistant and re-read or re-learn the material until you get it enough that you can explain it on the paper 5. Whenever you write down a wordy or a confusing explanation for something, try either to simplify the language, or create an analogy to understand it better (6. If you want to understand something even better or remember it even better, further try to develop, simplify and improve the explanation) (7. A good self-test of what you've learned is to go through your technique without looking at any reference material at any point and see if you can explain it deeply)
+Zeeke I agree, I have a hang up on that one as well. Either I understand it and cannot explain it to myself as though I don't understand it, or I do not understand it and can't possibly explain it to myself or anyone else. I suppose logically the first one is possible, that I could understand something and thus be able to explain it to myself as though I didn't understand it and were trying to teach my uninformed self about it. I do understand what's trying to be said here, which is to simply try explaining it to yourself(or someone else who knows nothing about it) in clear, simple terms so that they could understand it.
1:25 STEP ONE: CHOOSE YOUR CONCEPT 1:37 STEP TWO: PRETEND YOU'RE TEACHING THE IDEA TO A NEW STUDENT 1:57 STEP THREE: IF YOU GET STUCK, GO BACK TO THE BOOK 2:20 STEP FOUR: SIMPLIFY AND CREATE ANALOGIES
STEP 1: SECURE THE KEYS STEP 2: ASCEND FROM DARKNESS STEP 3: RAIN FIRE STEP 4: UNLEASH THE HORDE STEP 5: SKEWER THE WINGED BEAST STEP 6: WIELD A FIST OF IRON STEP 7: RAISE HELL STEP 8: FREEDOM
I am not highly educated, in fact I dropped out of school when I was 16, however I have been using my own method, which is very very close to what you discribe, for years. I imagine I am writing a letter to someone who would understand the subject if I explained it clearly enough. Usually the problem is resolved before I get to the end of the page, however if not, I put it aside for a day or two and then I read it OUT LOUD to myself. works every time for me! even on personal / relationship problems.
First of all education doesn't matter much your learning through out the life from your experiences counts.🙂🙂 Secondly I think this is more like writing a diary and read it afterwards.🙂🙂🙂
Scott thank you! Since 2014, you are the one who introduced me and many others to productivity. Even before it was a thing. No matter how many mainstream creators come and go, you are the king! You have been the benefactor, and I come back again to this video to pay my respects. Thank you for being a huge part of our growth journies.
I've used the visualization technique as if I were teaching what I just learned or read to get it into my head better. I've done this for 25-30 years, but never encountered it either as a named technique or was taught it, I just kinda came up with it myself. This is more elaborately laid out than what I do, but I love the idea that I came up with something so close to what a genius like Feynman. I usually do it "on the fly" I'll read a few paragraphs of something and then give a quick lesson to the classroom in my head, rewording what I just learned. By explaining it with my own choice of words it really makes things stick.
You didnt come up with shit, these are thoughts in the collective mind that pops into people's heads sometimes when they need it. its always there and everyone has access to it depending on situations, but few take advantage of it. Its foolish to say that "you" invented or came up with it when in fact it just popped into your head without your consent, just like it did with Feynman and many others.
Christopher Snow really? so you just said hey ill come up with some technique and created it out of thin air? Or an idea just popped into your head when you needed it and something in you claimed it as "I came up with it." In reality "you" had nothing to do with it, it just happened. Do "you" also digest your food?
excellent. ill add few points. 1.dont ask doubts to those who use complex terms to explain a concept WITHOUT EXPLAINING THE COMPLEX TERM.they can screw what u might have already learnt. 2. yes. learning takes time.when we learn,we touch ourself.we ask ourself questions and are truly convinced when we find the explanation.afterall we cant lie to ourself.crammers tend to obediently gulp down info given in the material as there is no enough time to challenge wat is given there,nor does in matter in exam where all its important is marks. but yes,for learning it does. 3.joy of learning,curiosity. when we learn out of curiosity,,the concept stays with us forever,as when curious we pay full attention to scavenge every possible detail and understand the concept. 4. pull imagination and visualization into learning.its awesome! and it helps to retain long.and making things little funny and amusing makes it stick in mind long!
Instead of asking a young Richard what he learned at school, his parents would ask him "What questions did you ask today?". The most curious man I've heard of, and a true inspiration.
Three of the most important concepts that you will need in order to understand both physics and math, and how they work together. 1. All physics, in fact, all science, occurs with a change in energy. That's what they mean when they say physics happens at the margin. They say that in economics, as well. They'll say it, but I have yet to have one professor explain it. A margin graphically depicts where there is a change. So, there must be an energy change in order to have physics. That's why we have potential and kinetic energy. Think of the word 'potential.' It means latent, or the capacity to do something. To do what? Move, or become kinetic. Science is basically the study of the catalysts which create that change. 2. Calculus was created in order to measure the physical changes that take place with an alternating energy. Differential calc tells us where that change took place, ala the limits of a function, and integral calc tells us the aggregate energy during a certain time frame. 3. Know the concept of a pure number. This may be the most important math concept of them all. If you're thinking you've never heard of a pure number, well, yes, you have. It goes by other names, ratios, percentages, fractions, degrees or radians of an angle, slope of a line, exponents and logarithms, derivatives, entropy, etc. As you can see, the pure number covers so many topics. So what is it? Pure numbers are numbers without units or dimensions, they have no quantities, they are not the number of any one thing. Instead, they're ratios, and ratios are comparisons, and what did we learn back in the first grade? We compare likes to like. For instance, in thermodynamic entropy, heat is the numerator, temperature is the denominator, both are forms of energy, so the SI units cancel, and you're left with a pure number. So what? Well, temperature can be thought of as potential energy, heat is the kinetic form of temperature. One has to be converted into the other in order to have physics, or in this case, the capacity to do work. Think of a dam, with a giant reservoir of water. It aint doing anything as long as the gates are locked. But open the gates, the water starts charging out, so you get a change from potential energy to kinetic. That change allows turbines to move, therefore, work is being done, and work is just another word for energy. But until there is an energy change, nothing happens, electricity isn't generated, electrons don't move, heat isn't created with those moving electrons, the force of friction of the wire against the moving electrons cannot generate heat, which is yet another energy change, none of that can take place until the initial energy is altered. Entropy is a number that tells us how much of the beginning energy has been transformed into another form. In science, you need to measure where something began, and where it ended up, in order to gauge and evaluate what your system is doing, if your engineering and thinking is actually playing out as you though it would. You can go a long way with just understanding those three concepts, primarily because it tells you WHY these things work and WHY they're important. Real knowledge is gained when you know the why of things. But you'll have a hell of a time finding a textbook that will tell you the why of things mathematical or scientific.....
+ripperduck and here's a piece of knowledge in the comment section :-) thx for the info. but u are writing too much where people don't care. u'd be better off investing ur precious time elsewhere
Harehn Kaundun I was a physics teacher, so I tend to lecture. Force of habit, but I was hoping that anyone interested in watching the OP would also want to know how horrible American science/math teaching methods have become. But you're probably right....
That explains ur knack to explain. well u get a grateful thank u from a satisfied student. :-D i didn't mean to discourage u but most people skip over lengthy pieces of information :-/
the use of analogies and simpler words to describe something you're trying to learn is an excellent suggestion. speed in everything, especially comprehension is vital in today's society. we want to balance this with a few minutes each day quieting our minds through some form of mindfulness or meditation. good luck in all things.
Excellent video! Today i catch myself studying calculus 2 (Taylor Polynomials), and when i started to explain the things to me, i realised that i didn't have truly understood previous concepts like tangent line. And now i am getting a better base of math and the concepts are easier to understand.
I did this exact technique for biology and would talk out loud as if I'm giving a lecture and I also taught it to my friends. I got one of the best marks in class. I also didn't do as well in one of my midterms (I worked hard and felt as thought I understood everything) but when I went to explain it to a friend I realized I actually didn't understand everything
This is a great technique. I'm using this study technique to breakdown and understand the theories I need for my PMP Exam. Trying it out on Quality Principles first and ITS WORKING!!!! This video is BEST 4 min I've spent all day!
I use a similar technique in essay writing. Instead of doing a rigid outline, I will open up notepad and essentially go on a typing rant, as if someone asked me what my essay was going to be about and I had just polished off a six pack. Putting the ideas out there in simple terms allows you to build up complex ideas around them.
I have been using this technique for my studying in calculus; I just jump straight to the concept I'm curious about, do research, and put my findings on paper, the idea stays permanently in my mind as I actually work with the concept.
haha yeah i tried typing something else, but it autocorrected a lot. i would have fixed it, but i thought it was funny that it autocorrected to that, so i sent it
It's simply internal dialogue and meditative technique, I have randomly stumbled upon this thinking while trying to grasp history. Although, I use it to very slow effect, it has helped me with memory and confidence. I started recently reading Hegel and other challenging text, and have just recording the process. Over time you would start to get a deeper appreciation for the activity and start seeing more complex interactions.
Hey, Scott! I deeply appreciate you introducing both Feynman, and this concept of his to me. Without this video I don't know when it would be that I would have come into contact with it. Again, I cannot stress enough how appreciative I am. Thank you, my friend.
I have been doing this for a while unknowingly. I used to study with my gf and teacher her a lot of the concepts so it forced me to simplify the concepts for her to understand. Since she switched majors I haven't used this technique and find my self studying harder not smarter. Interesting that it had a name I didn't know it was a special technique. Great video! Very informative, your tone was great, you made efficient use of 4min really outstanding presentation. Keep up the good work!
The Feynman Technique is the same tecqnique I used normally. It's a good way. Now on chemistry practicals I choose a less educated colleague and I teach him. Best way to fundamentally understand anything.
Well, I have been doing this for years after hearing a quote, I don't remember from who. "if you can't explain it, then you don't understand it". Although understanding principles is not the same as solving problems as problems have many underwater rocks that are not noticeable in just explanations.
Understanding something from the point of built knowledge is actually a lot easier than memorization of concepts. Rote memorization is for starting points, if it's not within ones' usual range of experience. For example, in third grade we were awarded a prize if was memorized our times tables up to twelve. For me it was easier to be able to 'see' the four times three things in my head than to try recall the sound of the words. When I was teaching my sons and younger sister to read, we picked out stop signs and place names and labels, and I looked for 'windows of opportunity' to encourage learning new concepts. My son had perfect pitch, so the Suzuki method worked out perfectly for him (actually he learned to read music at about the same time he learned to read words) because it requires short bursts of learning concepts with guided encouragement. In my case, as a parent, I attended the classes with my son so that I could 'learn' and 'coach' him as I encouraged him. Problem was ... he outpaced me in the first year. Maybe that's the way it should be?
You can't learn something only by teaching it to yourself without understanding it first. You can make a lot of mistakes this way. For example, you associated "torque" with "corkscrew" and "righty-tighty/lefty-loosey" and the latter 2 concepts are not inherent to the former. We learn by linking ideas; if one of them is faulty from start, the result can be a lasting, if not permanent, erroneous opinion - which will lead to confusion and indecision when solving problems associated with it. You can however combine this "technique" (teaching yourself) with a scientific method mindset, to experiment and evaluate - and intermittently check reliable sources - in order to achieve great, accurate results and a very efficient learning process. Also, learning from concepts instead of memorizing difficult words (or formulas) is awesome, and everyone should check what Feynman has to say about this in other videos, but you should definitely not shy away from unknown vocabulary. Instead, try to understand the word's origins and the meaning of it's components. Look for its _etymology_ (from the Greek _etumon_, meaning "true sense", and _logia_ meaning "the study of" - which comes from _logos_, meaning "word, explanation". See, It's fun).
I agree fully. If you aim to "teach to yourself" a concept you are unfamiliar with, doing this is next to useless. A solid foundation in taught fact is necessary before anyone can do this.
The entire point is to force you to break the idea down to avoid all the ambiguity of compound concepts. Also, you might want to not comment if you don't understand what analogies are.
Hey i've been practically using the same technique for years without realising it had a name to it! Found this strategy specially useful in getting though Med School.
I remember watching this years ago! I wonder why it appeared on my recommended again. It seems to have been a pattern recently. Old videos keep popping up. But this is a good one!
Here is one tip to remember while studying, humans are better programmed to remember visual images as opposed to arbitrary words and numbers. The more prominent the image, the more memorable it becomes. Incorporate this by means of association.
+Humble Hobbit there are two main techniques: visual and hearing. Visual is reinforced by note-taking and illustrating as his "Feynman technique" shows above. But humans have known for thousands of years that audible works too - especially reinforced with rhyme, rhythm and/or music. As for Feynman, while he no doubt made use of the tools at hand, a lot was simply clicking away between his ears, like the fine-tuned machine it was.
Having voluntarily entered into the third self educational program (at least this time it was voluntary), I am finding your insight and instruction from both your website, your downloads, and videos, invaluable.
I use something like this technique, always aiming to understand the big picture related to a topic so I can piece together all the details. Analogies and teaching somebody for an hour always help. Step two: equations
Another way is to plan the questions that you would ask, to gain deep understanding of the topic, if you have access to a really knowledgeable and good teacher on the subject. Once you come with questions then there is a good chance that you will be able to answer them yourself one by one if you apply enough rigor and thought.... When I am stuck at something, I usually start drafting an email to ask someone and then before hitting send button I investigate again and mostly find my answers and delete the email without sending....
Kant wrote the Critique of Pure Reason not as a textbook for students but as an academic work meant for professional philosophers and metaphysicians. This means Kant's language is very specific. When he says "intuition" or "understanding" the words have a more specialized meaning than when we use them in everyday life. The biggest initial hurdle for reading Kant is learning the jargon. It's like learning a new language. Start with explaining to yourself what Kant means by words like a priori, a posteriori, synthetic, analytic, judgement, understanding, and intuition before diagramming his arguments. A Kant dictionary is helpful here. Also don't expect total understanding of the work the first time through. So long as you gain something you're making progress. Trust me. Once you start to understand what he's saying, reading Kant becomes embarrassingly fun.
A Jalapeño Kant is a big name in both analytic and continental philosophy, so if you want to read any contemporary Western philosophy it helps to have an understanding of him. Beyond philosophy, a surprising amount of political science references Kant (even his metaphysics). He's read in law school. His ethical system is one of the few still taken seriously today and, since he was a systematic thinker, his ethics is supposed to follow from his metaphysics. I've also encountered him in film theory and aesthetics. No, reading Kant isn't going to help you cure cancer or build a spaceship, but he will give you a better understanding of the intellectual history of the society you live in today.
I discovered this method of learning while tutoring my friends. I usually prepare a piece of paper with all the information necessary to understand something, with nice drawings, diagrams and very simple explanations, and it is usually enough for them to understand it. Creating these papers helps me to understand everything very clearly, because otherwise I wouldn't be able to explain it clearly.
I prefer Murray Gell-Mann's account of Feynman's technique. A student once asked Gell-Mann what the Feynman method was for solving a problem they were looking at. Gell-Mann answered that the Feynamn method was this: you write down a problem, you think about it real hard, you write down the answer.
Great Video! Thank you so much for the techniques! And... Technically, torque is not force. It measures the effect of a force... but it's not force itself
Lets take history for example.We try to learn things written from the book,but we never write them down the way we understand them.If you divide concepts or ideas or simply descriptions of a page and learn them one by one,in order,everything will be sorted out and stored in your head,much more easily and better than cramming whole pages who may not even bear.
This is a very good advice. I remember explaining a math problem to my sister which i had problems with earlier and when i did that evrything became easier and more managable.
Some people here seem to think that it is about understanding the concepts. It isn't. It's about finding out what you think you understand but actually don't, so you can act on it. We often think we understand things because it's our own mind looking at itself. When we start writing an explanation in simple language that anyone could understand, is when we will find the holes in our understanding. That's the whole point - not the motivation to understand, but how you go about getting there with greater certainty and less bias.
I always abide the Einstein rule. Einstein says something like this: If u can tell something/ theory in ur own words to another person then u know what ur talking about thus understanding the topic.
I also study physics and I also do the same to undrestand things but until now I used to get stuck in my thoughts and lose the way ! Now I know whta I've been missing...just writing the thoughts on a piece of paper ! Great video buddy keep it up
Feynman promoted the idea of understanding things, not memorizing things. This technique is not "his", but he's got a good name and promoted the basic concept of this. If you memorize something, explain it to yourself until you understand it. only then do you understand.
The technique is inspired by Feynman, not used directly by him. I was inspired by the story I shared in the beginning to formulate his more informal approach into a method. You can see him talk about understanding the math ideas in his book "Surely You Must Be Joking, Mr. Feynman"
hey ,if anyone else wants to uncover ways to improve memory try Elumpa Simple Studying Alchemist (do a search on google ) ? Ive heard some amazing things about it and my co-worker got cool results with it.
Having to draw a line from the everyday man to the specialist requires a lot of argument and explanation, and therefore, the technique works incredibly well for memory and analysis, requiring the brain to synthesise the most functional of elements, and often times discarding, and bringing to light redundancies and potential innovations!
Nigel PK read and try to understand a complete subject. Then afterwards simplify it down to 1-7 smaller concepts which you can use this technique on. or if possible, the entire field, depending on what you study.
Your brain works better the more you use it in stimulative ways. If you just take a huge amount of material and try to jam it down it will be like when you go to gym and try to work out for 10 hrs straight. You take time and mix up this technique and regular studies and memorization and it speeds up somewhat. You dont have time? Yes, if your house burning and you want to pick up a book and learn how to find the fastest escape rout out...is too late, otherwise, the "no time" is bs.
I am a lawyer. This is precisely what you must do in order to pass the essay portion of the bar examination: explain legal concepts in words of eighth grade level or below.
oh great I used the same way for learning fast but I didn't knew that it was Feynman' s technique for which he Was awarded noble prize .Allah has blessed me with such a great ability.
Been doing this technique my entire life without knowing also I noticed whenever I didn't do this, it is just never the same deep understanding I get when I follow this technique.
ALL MATH AND SCIENCE TEACHERS SHOULD BE FORCED TO WATCH THISThis goes for teaching first, formal and informal; and next to students, who feel something is above their heads
Excellent stuff. I've been a huge fan of Feynman and I realized I've implicitly used this while taking notes on philosophy and social theory (which I am majoring in now). In my opinion however, depth and speed are mutually exclusive. And this has helped me learn deeper, not necessarily faster. And I'm glad that I slow down because of this, especially when going through difficult texts.
before i saw this video I'd used this technique mentally while doing tests and I've aced each one. even tests i thought i was going to do poorly on. it really is the best way to understand a concept; to pretend you're teaching it to someone else.
You should re-read/re-learn the idea until you start to build some kind of image in your head. Only then take out some paper and write it down or draw it. The act of writing/drawing may spark some additional ideas or may clarify the concept. Additionally, it makes a great difference to compare your ideas to other real world scenarios.
I believe and tests prove the PQRST method works best with reading material, Preview the contents (perhaps a table of contents), Question what you will learn (How do neurons communicate), Read (read the chapter, watch the lecture), Summarize ([method of this video], neurons are electrically charged and once they reach their positive electron limit they emit chemicals through the synapse and pass it over to the next neuron) and Test (for my example I'd choose different types of neurons and their functions). Personally I'd recommend studying learning from a psychological approach (mnemonics), but I'm bias with that because I have an interest in psychology but it has helped my computer science, biology, psychology, neurology, and programming skill-sets. Also try binural waves while studying I find them useful at times.
Now if only I could write like that for my research papers lol, and to add to the PQRST, the test subjects improved on the study subject with about an 75% increase in test scores and it is also known as the SQR3 (Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review) same concept just chose which is better for you, I like SQR3 because it reminds me of SQL (database query language, not related in anyway just the abbreviations are similar) which also reminds me link new information to existing information, you're brain will do this in your NREM sleep for you which is why sleep is great for learning, but now I'm getting way off subject.
Philip Rollins How do you use binural waves for studying? Is that where you record a topic on a tape recorder and play it while sleeping so that you'll retain the material at a paraconscious level?
This is that "teaching is the best way of learning" thing right? But, instead of writing everything down i prefer just explain to a empty chair out load, i think works the same way
note: 3:03, temperature is not directly linked to energy, if you transform ice to water (0°c 1013 hPa), you have to add energy to the system, but temperature doesn't necessarily change
1 - choose the concept you want to understand 2 - explain the idea to yourself as if you were teaching it to someone who did not understand it 3 - whenever you get stuck go back to the reference materials and relearn the material until you get it enough to explain 4 - try to either simplify the language or create an analogy to understand it better
What is said here is true for a set level of related concepts that are suitably arranged for a particular course and curriculum. When you attempt to apply what is learned, this self teaching and learning methodology is very good within the boundaries. The limitations might be this same strength of self-convincing, if the next stage is open-mined research, then it's good idea to practice unlearning the fringe ideas, and be able to say what is wrong and right about them in a general context. Most story telling techniques involve some pretty impressive half-truth to convince the researchers the unspoken part is automatically true too.
even if you use this technique to understand this technique, you still have to use the technique to see if you really understood the technique by using the technique to understand the technique.
It can be... but women are a very complicated concept that arbitrarily changes frequently based on not just genetics & nurture... but also mood... and this mood may or may not be under turbo mode because of mood disorders or estrogen levels. Really a struggle in understanding women is a struggle with the disease known as estrogen in order to match the perfect vision of a boyfriend the woman is trying to find. In order to skip these extra steps you have to be either surrounded by other women worshiping you (perhaps paying prostitutes and taking instagram photos), or you have to be a male model so that you are no longer graded on this arbitrary grading scale.
Greenranger8 If the audio sucks, it sucks. There's no need to pussyfoot around it. I'm sure the uploader is big enough to not get his feelings hurt by that
The audio is not GREAT. lol what? its a normal echoy webcam microphone. I dont particularly care about the audio quality, but a 5$ lav mic from amazon would probably sound 3 times better haha. But again, I dont really care about how much the uploader put effort & resources into his small youtube video he posted 5 years ago to get his point across :P
I understood what you were gonna explain before the first minute was up. Convert anything you study into simple words. Thanks. (However it doesnt work for the stuff i have to study --- Memorizing a bunch of stuff that are not conceptual ) EX: numbers names dates etc. > but yes... "comprehension" requires simplification.
Except for complex subjects which are complex because if they were simple they wouldn't be complex... Basically any system with many interdependent parts and feedback loops will evade naive simplification attempts.
I have a problem with this technique, what if a student thinks he understands parts of the subject, and goes to explain things to himselve, while actually writing complete nonsensical conclusions? You will always need somebody to proofcheck your "self-explanation".
It's actually better to be wrong and then corrected than correct the first time. You will have a greater chance of remembering the concept because you can think back to the time you were corrected.
I have been teaching myself to code, and realized halfway through watching this video that I technically do this technique mentally. When I have a problem scripting something, I always try to pinpoint the concept I don't understand and focus on learning that instead of focusing on my script.
Ive always tried to learn this way on my own, the only big issue for me is that it takes LOADS of time! yet i learn this way the best. But thanks for giving me more ideas *BY THE WAY DOES ANYONE HERE HAVE IDEA HOW CAN I FIX THIS:* i really need help D: .Sometimes i learn by book and doing this way better than going to lecture, sure lecturers kinda give me wider perspective but it is so hard for me to think along in lessons, i learn on my own pace an i usually forget a lot after lectures becaue i dont have time to make my own connections when i try to scribble down stuff that lecturer says, sometimes topic is new to me too so i cant relate it to anything and i forget..! but i have to go to lectures otherwise i wont know what everyone else is doing.. Recently i tried listening rather than writing things down, but then i dont have any teacher material (sometimes they are needed for future practise lessons). And so basicly i have very little time to self study this way shown here this video.. because i like to go down to the core of things but it takes loads of time! So if anyone here has any ideas please reply :D id be thankful maybe listen on lectures to get main idea then study at home? and ask material from friends? D: (however i dont want to depend on others that way..)
Easy note down what u learn each day and revisit it the next day, week and then month. After that the knowledge had made a good solid foundation in your mind. I've been doing this method this year and I've basically learned 5AS subjects most people do 3.
***** The reason it takes loads of time is you're not doing it right. You're supposed to simplify the material as much as possible. If it's taking you hours to explain a chapter you've learned, you're probably using too much formal language, or your use of analogies is off. I used this method to get an A in a 4th year advanced statistics course in economics. I've learned from experience that it really does work, in that searching for what you don't know is more important than reviewing what you already do know.
***** how do you make sure however, that your imaginary guess isnt wrong? Ive actually tried to do something like that recently, i try to get somewhat main idea of the topic i need, i dont go into deep details, and while i have the main idea of the thing i go and study the thing i actually need to know (for an exam or test or so..) did you mean something similar? :)
***** perhaps it's because the material itself is incredibly dense (at first, of course). Maybe organic chemistry might be a good example, since there are so many different reactions and mechanisms that are daunting to remember, and also countless exceptions to rules learned early on. I think repeated exposure as mentioned above is very helpful. As long as you put in the time to understand the concept at first, it will become more intuitive as you continue to expose yourself to it, and perhaps even its applications (e.g. practice problems, research, etc.) - much like practicing an instrument! ^^ if it really does take too much time, you can try to read a textbook and explain it to yourself mentally/verbally as you go along; this could be a possible alternative to writing things down, as long as you can really remember what devices you used in your explanation, such as analogies, a particular diagram you found on Google Images after searching the topic, etc.
+TheiLame I can suggest you few things I do, I only recently discovered. 1) Use E-books to read. Download Adobe Reader and use Text aloud feature. While the computer reads for you keep looking at the book you are reading. I promise you, pages fly by, and you'll never miss an important point. This will help us do two things : Our eye info processing in brain is slower than our ear's, so we'll grasp the concept fast - particularly if we keep looking at the book. You can avoid short time wastage, like we don't notice it, but we have huge time waste in changing between paragraphs because your ears are not engaged in reading, you can be distracted easily. If you engage both your organs on it your brain can't escape to other thoughts. Pages fly by and you'll never miss what is important. Of course, you can pause any time. Better to do this with fixed time periods i.e. study periods of 45 min (my suggestion). This way you can actually sit for hours without interruption, but mind you its very bad on your brain. You are easily tired by this - hence take breaks. Use ear phones if possible. 2) Whenever you read, always keep one principle in mind : One sentence per paragraph. No matter how big a given paragraph is, you just need to summarize it in one sentence i.e. what the paragraph is trying to say. Then in next sentence you write what you are expecting in next paragraph. At the end of section, you have a collection of sentences, now group those sentences and form a coherent paragraph. Tada !! You have a good summary and you don't need to re read any material again. you'll have time for cross referencing, which is what a great scholar does. 3) Focusing is important while learning. How to engage your focus is answered by imagination. I don't need to explain this further. Good luck.
If you want to learn something you have to give it a time, specially if you are studying on your own without any external help. Write down something when you truly grasp the topic and keep revising it. If you do not revise you will forget it.
Oh, I completely agree! My point was only that Feynman is *not* an ordinary person, and that we should keep that in mind when reflecting upon this topology story. Visual imagination and mental models are powerful techniques, but they aren't a magic bullet. They may appear so in Feynman's hands, but the magic is his own. We should therefore not be mislead into thinking that all of the theorems of topology will become trivial to us, as they were to Feynman.
I'm currently doing dentistry. It's not as hectic, but there's not enough time too. I apply this after every clinical/surgical session when my tutors and professors mention some ingenious/creative way to solve a problem. It worked really well. I hope you have the time for this too!
I've always used this technique without knowing. I talk while walking explaining to myself using analogies. Also asking questions to oneself is very important.
> Uses the Feynman Technique to learn the basic concept > Exam paper asks you to recite facts that you had to memorize F U C C but hey at least I LeArNeD
This is a really good advice! As for me, I do not possess a good memory so unless I really understand the subject I will not remember it. No reason for even trying, I'll forget everything in a month unless I understand it. But what made me write this comment is that it is very usual for our teachers (I am from Ukraine) to say something like this: "I know you don't understand the subject, so just keep on repeating it and you'll remember that"... That's a one bad advice!
You offer good advice for someone who has trouble keeping straight what they know and what they don't. (Admittedly this can be tricky sometimes. Especially in technical subjects, where sometimes people worry too much about vocabulary which they don't fully understand, rather than the ideas this vocabulary expresses). But certainly this is not the ONLY moral of the Feynman topology story - in fact, that story is very much a testament to his genius.
My summary of the technique:
1. Choose the concept you want to understand
2. Take a blank piece of paper, write the name of that concept at the top of the page
3. Explain the idea to yourself as if you were teaching it to someone who does not understand it at all
4. Whenever you get stuck, go back to the reference material, lectures or a teacher assistant and re-read or re-learn the material until you get it enough that you can explain it on the paper
5. Whenever you write down a wordy or a confusing explanation for something, try either to simplify the language, or create an analogy to understand it better
(6. If you want to understand something even better or remember it even better, further try to develop, simplify and improve the explanation)
(7. A good self-test of what you've learned is to go through your technique without looking at any reference material at any point and see if you can explain it deeply)
+David Kristoffersson Thank you very much
+David Kristoffersson cool
+David Kristoffersson No3 is a bit of a grey area and doesnt really make sense?
+Zeeke Try teaching an idea to someone thats a good way to learn.
+Zeeke I agree, I have a hang up on that one as well.
Either I understand it and cannot explain it to myself as though I don't understand it, or I do not understand it and can't possibly explain it to myself or anyone else.
I suppose logically the first one is possible, that I could understand something and thus be able to explain it to myself as though I didn't understand it and were trying to teach my uninformed self about it.
I do understand what's trying to be said here, which is to simply try explaining it to yourself(or someone else who knows nothing about it) in clear, simple terms so that they could understand it.
1:25 STEP ONE: CHOOSE YOUR CONCEPT
1:37 STEP TWO: PRETEND YOU'RE TEACHING THE IDEA TO A NEW STUDENT
1:57 STEP THREE: IF YOU GET STUCK, GO BACK TO THE BOOK
2:20 STEP FOUR: SIMPLIFY AND CREATE ANALOGIES
STEP 1: SECURE THE KEYS
STEP 2: ASCEND FROM DARKNESS
STEP 3: RAIN FIRE
STEP 4: UNLEASH THE HORDE
STEP 5: SKEWER THE WINGED BEAST
STEP 6: WIELD A FIST OF IRON
STEP 7: RAISE HELL
STEP 8: FREEDOM
I am not highly educated, in fact I dropped out of school when I was 16, however I have been using my own method, which is very very close to what you discribe, for years. I imagine I am writing a letter to someone who would understand the subject if I explained it clearly enough. Usually the problem is resolved before I get to the end of the page, however if not, I put it aside for a day or two and then I read it OUT LOUD to myself. works every time for me! even on personal / relationship problems.
Kevin Geaney if you want to master a skill , teach it quoted Feynman
Geaney Technique🙌
@@olfssen "He who can - does, he who cannot - teaches." G.B.Shaw, from his play "Man and Superman" 😁
First of all education doesn't matter much your learning through out the life from your experiences counts.🙂🙂
Secondly I think this is more like writing a diary and read it afterwards.🙂🙂🙂
@@themorningstar8980 true
I just used the Feynman Technique to Learn the Feynman Technique!
Lolololol
+Rohan Kumar Loop detected!
Self referential analysis. You're smart.
Haha 😂 😂
Feynmanception !?!?
Scott thank you!
Since 2014, you are the one who introduced me and many others to productivity. Even before it was a thing. No matter how many mainstream creators come and go, you are the king! You have been the benefactor, and I come back again to this video to pay my respects.
Thank you for being a huge part of our growth journies.
FML spelling, emotions spoiling spellings are customary.
I never knew this technique. But, I just realized I've been using it for the last 2 years in my biology classes especially. Definitely effective!
Just realised I ve been using this technique unknowingly all the time.
yeah..
Same lol
most smart people do it
ikr, who the fuck doesn't do this, i thought i was gonna learn some cool shit, smh
seancloser Me too!
I've used the visualization technique as if I were teaching what I just learned or read to get it into my head better. I've done this for 25-30 years, but never encountered it either as a named technique or was taught it, I just kinda came up with it myself.
This is more elaborately laid out than what I do, but I love the idea that I came up with something so close to what a genius like Feynman. I usually do it "on the fly" I'll read a few paragraphs of something and then give a quick lesson to the classroom in my head, rewording what I just learned. By explaining it with my own choice of words it really makes things stick.
me too. I also used to actually explain complex physics stuff to my 10-year old brother.
joni jokunen Makes you break it down into the most simple of terms too I'm sure. Which of course helps your own comprehension of the material.
You didnt come up with shit, these are thoughts in the collective mind that pops into people's heads sometimes when they need it. its always there and everyone has access to it depending on situations, but few take advantage of it. Its foolish to say that "you" invented or came up with it when in fact it just popped into your head without your consent, just like it did with Feynman and many others.
Curiousnessify I did come up with it, I never said I was the first to come up with it, And it's not a collective mind, but rather parallel thinking.
Christopher Snow really? so you just said hey ill come up with some technique and created it out of thin air? Or an idea just popped into your head when you needed it and something in you claimed it as "I came up with it." In reality "you" had nothing to do with it, it just happened. Do "you" also digest your food?
excellent. ill add few points.
1.dont ask doubts to those who use complex terms to explain a concept WITHOUT EXPLAINING THE COMPLEX TERM.they can screw what u might have already learnt.
2. yes. learning takes time.when we learn,we touch ourself.we ask ourself questions and are truly convinced when we find the explanation.afterall we cant lie to ourself.crammers tend to obediently gulp down info given in the material as there is no enough time to challenge wat is given there,nor does in matter in exam where all its important is marks. but yes,for learning it does.
3.joy of learning,curiosity. when we learn out of curiosity,,the concept stays with us forever,as when curious we pay full attention to scavenge every possible detail and understand the concept.
4. pull imagination and visualization into learning.its awesome! and it helps to retain long.and making things little funny and amusing makes it stick in mind long!
can you explain how to do the 4th point
Instead of asking a young Richard what he learned at school, his parents would ask him "What questions did you ask today?".
The most curious man I've heard of, and a true inspiration.
Yeah, I should put his and Einstein's pictures on my wall.
Three of the most important concepts that you will need in order to understand both physics and math, and how they work together.
1. All physics, in fact, all science, occurs with a change in energy. That's what they mean when they say physics happens at the margin. They say that in economics, as well. They'll say it, but I have yet to have one professor explain it. A margin graphically depicts where there is a change. So, there must be an energy change in order to have physics. That's why we have potential and kinetic energy. Think of the word 'potential.' It means latent, or the capacity to do something. To do what? Move, or become kinetic. Science is basically the study of the catalysts which create that change.
2. Calculus was created in order to measure the physical changes that take place with an alternating energy. Differential calc tells us where that change took place, ala the limits of a function, and integral calc tells us the aggregate energy during a certain time frame.
3. Know the concept of a pure number. This may be the most important math concept of them all. If you're thinking you've never heard of a pure number, well, yes, you have. It goes by other names, ratios, percentages, fractions, degrees or radians of an angle, slope of a line, exponents and logarithms, derivatives, entropy, etc.
As you can see, the pure number covers so many topics. So what is it? Pure numbers are numbers without units or dimensions, they have no quantities, they are not the number of any one thing. Instead, they're ratios, and ratios are comparisons, and what did we learn back in the first grade? We compare likes to like. For instance, in thermodynamic entropy, heat is the numerator, temperature is the denominator, both are forms of energy, so the SI units cancel, and you're left with a pure number. So what? Well, temperature can be thought of as potential energy, heat is the kinetic form of temperature. One has to be converted into the other in order to have physics, or in this case, the capacity to do work. Think of a dam, with a giant reservoir of water. It aint doing anything as long as the gates are locked. But open the gates, the water starts charging out, so you get a change from potential energy to kinetic. That change allows turbines to move, therefore, work is being done, and work is just another word for energy. But until there is an energy change, nothing happens, electricity isn't generated, electrons don't move, heat isn't created with those moving electrons, the force of friction of the wire against the moving electrons cannot generate heat, which is yet another energy change, none of that can take place until the initial energy is altered. Entropy is a number that tells us how much of the beginning energy has been transformed into another form. In science, you need to measure where something began, and where it ended up, in order to gauge and evaluate what your system is doing, if your engineering and thinking is actually playing out as you though it would.
You can go a long way with just understanding those three concepts, primarily because it tells you WHY these things work and WHY they're important. Real knowledge is gained when you know the why of things. But you'll have a hell of a time finding a textbook that will tell you the why of things mathematical or scientific.....
+ripperduck and here's a piece of knowledge in the comment section :-) thx for the info. but u are writing too much where people don't care. u'd be better off investing ur precious time elsewhere
Harehn Kaundun I was a physics teacher, so I tend to lecture. Force of habit, but I was hoping that anyone interested in watching the OP would also want to know how horrible American science/math teaching methods have become. But you're probably right....
That explains ur knack to explain. well u get a grateful thank u from a satisfied student. :-D
i didn't mean to discourage u but most people skip over lengthy pieces of information :-/
Harehn Kaundun You're absolutely right. Much different in a classroom setting than a comments section. I need to know the difference. Thanks!!!!
Thanks!
I didn't at all know this feynman technique, but this is essentially how I do note taking.
"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." - Albert Einstein
Did he actually said that ? his relativity theory is not at all easy to understand...
"Don't belive random quotes in internet" - Albert Einstein, 1337 A.D.
@@izvarzone LMAO 😆 you just made my day buddy
the use of analogies and simpler words to describe something you're trying to learn is an excellent suggestion. speed in everything, especially comprehension is vital in today's society. we want to balance this with a few minutes each day quieting our minds through some form of mindfulness or meditation. good luck in all things.
Excellent video! Today i catch myself studying calculus 2 (Taylor Polynomials), and when i started to explain the things to me, i realised that i didn't have truly understood previous concepts like tangent line. And now i am getting a better base of math and the concepts are easier to understand.
The fact that this technique is simple and effective makes it pure gold.
I did this exact technique for biology and would talk out loud as if I'm giving a lecture and I also taught it to my friends. I got one of the best marks in class.
I also didn't do as well in one of my midterms (I worked hard and felt as thought I understood everything) but when I went to explain it to a friend I realized I actually didn't understand everything
This is a great technique. I'm using this study technique to breakdown and understand the theories I need for my PMP Exam. Trying it out on Quality Principles first and ITS WORKING!!!! This video is BEST 4 min I've spent all day!
I use a similar technique in essay writing. Instead of doing a rigid outline, I will open up notepad and essentially go on a typing rant, as if someone asked me what my essay was going to be about and I had just polished off a six pack.
Putting the ideas out there in simple terms allows you to build up complex ideas around them.
I have been using this technique for my studying in calculus; I just jump straight to the concept I'm curious about, do research, and put my findings on paper, the idea stays permanently in my mind as I actually work with the concept.
I thought that's how everyone studied... Now I understand why my classmates cram entire sentences before history exams!
yeah fuck toy
Hydroxyium Videos I'm starting to understand RUclips comments less and less every day. It's probably just me.
haha yeah i tried typing something else, but it autocorrected a lot. i would have fixed it, but i thought it was funny that it autocorrected to that, so i sent it
Hydroxyium Videos Really strange spawn of autocorrect... Quite entertaining!
It's simply internal dialogue and meditative technique, I have randomly stumbled upon this thinking while trying to grasp history. Although, I use it to very slow effect, it has helped me with memory and confidence. I started recently reading Hegel and other challenging text, and have just recording the process. Over time you would start to get a deeper appreciation for the activity and start seeing more complex interactions.
Hey, Scott! I deeply appreciate you introducing both Feynman, and this concept of his to me. Without this video I don't know when it would be that I would have come into contact with it. Again, I cannot stress enough how appreciative I am. Thank you, my friend.
I have been doing this for a while unknowingly. I used to study with my gf and teacher her a lot of the concepts so it forced me to simplify the concepts for her to understand. Since she switched majors I haven't used this technique and find my self studying harder not smarter. Interesting that it had a name I didn't know it was a special technique. Great video! Very informative, your tone was great, you made efficient use of 4min really outstanding presentation. Keep up the good work!
The Feynman Technique is the same tecqnique I used normally. It's a good way. Now on chemistry practicals I choose a less educated colleague and I teach him. Best way to fundamentally understand anything.
Same here, I ended up doing this for just about every class within my first semester of college. It's straightforward and practical.
Well, I have been doing this for years after hearing a quote, I don't remember from who. "if you can't explain it, then you don't understand it". Although understanding principles is not the same as solving problems as problems have many underwater rocks that are not noticeable in just explanations.
Understanding something from the point of built knowledge is actually a lot easier than memorization of concepts. Rote memorization is for starting points, if it's not within ones' usual range of experience. For example, in third grade we were awarded a prize if was memorized our times tables up to twelve. For me it was easier to be able to 'see' the four times three things in my head than to try recall the sound of the words.
When I was teaching my sons and younger sister to read, we picked out stop signs and place names and labels, and I looked for 'windows of opportunity' to encourage learning new concepts.
My son had perfect pitch, so the Suzuki method worked out perfectly for him (actually he learned to read music at about the same time he learned to read words) because it requires short bursts of learning concepts with guided encouragement. In my case, as a parent, I attended the classes with my son so that I could 'learn' and 'coach' him as I encouraged him. Problem was ... he outpaced me in the first year. Maybe that's the way it should be?
You can't learn something only by teaching it to yourself without understanding it first.
You can make a lot of mistakes this way.
For example, you associated "torque" with "corkscrew" and "righty-tighty/lefty-loosey" and the latter 2 concepts are not inherent to the former.
We learn by linking ideas; if one of them is faulty from start, the result can be a lasting, if not permanent, erroneous opinion - which will lead to confusion and indecision when solving problems associated with it.
You can however combine this "technique" (teaching yourself) with a scientific method mindset, to experiment and evaluate - and intermittently check reliable sources - in order to achieve great, accurate results and a very efficient learning process.
Also, learning from concepts instead of memorizing difficult words (or formulas) is awesome, and everyone should check what Feynman has to say about this in other videos, but you should definitely not shy away from unknown vocabulary. Instead, try to understand the word's origins and the meaning of it's components. Look for its _etymology_ (from the Greek _etumon_, meaning "true sense", and _logia_ meaning "the study of" - which comes from _logos_, meaning "word, explanation". See, It's fun).
i think the right left were analogies to link torque to a real world example he can easily remember
I agree fully. If you aim to "teach to yourself" a concept you are unfamiliar with, doing this is next to useless. A solid foundation in taught fact is necessary before anyone can do this.
indeed DevilDude4427
The entire point is to force you to break the idea down to avoid all the ambiguity of compound concepts.
Also, you might want to not comment if you don't understand what analogies are.
No matter what note taking method you use. You can learn something wrong.
Hey i've been practically using the same technique for years without realising it had a name to it! Found this strategy specially useful in getting though Med School.
I remember watching this years ago! I wonder why it appeared on my recommended again. It seems to have been a pattern recently. Old videos keep popping up. But this is a good one!
This is what I do to work things out in my head. Have a dialogue with myself about the concept to see if I truly understand.
Here is one tip to remember while studying, humans are better programmed to remember visual images as opposed to arbitrary words and numbers. The more prominent the image, the more memorable it becomes. Incorporate this by means of association.
+Humble Hobbit he already said this, "give an example/analogy"
+Humble Hobbit there are two main techniques: visual and hearing. Visual is reinforced by note-taking and illustrating as his "Feynman technique" shows above. But humans have known for thousands of years that audible works too - especially reinforced with rhyme, rhythm and/or music. As for Feynman, while he no doubt made use of the tools at hand, a lot was simply clicking away between his ears, like the fine-tuned machine it was.
Having voluntarily entered into the third self educational program (at least this time it was voluntary), I am finding your insight and instruction from both your website, your downloads, and videos, invaluable.
So, to study for a test you should try to understand the concepts and material ? Wow, that's genius!
*through explaining them as if there were another person trying to learn them
(you forgot the second half there, buddy)
In our primary school it used to b called "explain in your own words".
Learning is very easy when u hv proper materials and u go through basics . intuitive explanation and granted things can be accepted sometimes..
Video starts at 1:19
The hero we deserve...
Video ends at 4:07
This video just says study shit properly.
The youtube 30% rude dude, you just automatically skip 30% into every youtube video and you don't miss anything
جحفلي 😂
I use something like this technique, always aiming to understand the big picture related to a topic so I can piece together all the details. Analogies and teaching somebody for an hour always help.
Step two: equations
when you get this video as recommended but your exams are already over😅 I try it out next semester.
denzoned I still have time
We learn better methods to study after graduating from school.
i am here after my degree :P
Or another location works the same :/
Another way is to plan the questions that you would ask, to gain deep understanding of the topic, if you have access to a really knowledgeable and good teacher on the subject.
Once you come with questions then there is a good chance that you will be able to answer them yourself one by one if you apply enough rigor and thought....
When I am stuck at something, I usually start drafting an email to ask someone and then before hitting send button I investigate again and mostly find my answers and delete the email without sending....
critique of pure reason hits the limit of my understanding
Maybe that's because it's not possible to understand it, it could be nonsense.
Kant wrote the Critique of Pure Reason not as a textbook for students but as an academic work meant for professional philosophers and metaphysicians. This means Kant's language is very specific. When he says "intuition" or "understanding" the words have a more specialized meaning than when we use them in everyday life. The biggest initial hurdle for reading Kant is learning the jargon. It's like learning a new language. Start with explaining to yourself what Kant means by words like a priori, a posteriori, synthetic, analytic, judgement, understanding, and intuition before diagramming his arguments. A Kant dictionary is helpful here. Also don't expect total understanding of the work the first time through. So long as you gain something you're making progress. Trust me. Once you start to understand what he's saying, reading Kant becomes embarrassingly fun.
Why bother with such abstract nonsense that bears no fruit?
A Jalapeño The process of learning itself is the fruit you receive.
A Jalapeño
Kant is a big name in both analytic and continental philosophy, so if you want to read any contemporary Western philosophy it helps to have an understanding of him. Beyond philosophy, a surprising amount of political science references Kant (even his metaphysics). He's read in law school. His ethical system is one of the few still taken seriously today and, since he was a systematic thinker, his ethics is supposed to follow from his metaphysics. I've also encountered him in film theory and aesthetics. No, reading Kant isn't going to help you cure cancer or build a spaceship, but he will give you a better understanding of the intellectual history of the society you live in today.
Wow, this is what I've been doing for years, I usually take notes after lectures using this method.
Soooooooo...take notes as usual! got it. This was so enlightening.
Yeah, kinda expected more from the title.
***** That's the only way I've ever taken notes buddy.
That's because you're a dumbass
You aren't taking notes when you use this technique, you are writing your own notes. They may sound like the same thing but they aren't.
boxxer221 Lol
I discovered this method of learning while tutoring my friends. I usually prepare a piece of paper with all the information necessary to understand something, with nice drawings, diagrams and very simple explanations, and it is usually enough for them to understand it. Creating these papers helps me to understand everything very clearly, because otherwise I wouldn't be able to explain it clearly.
I already do this in my head. Maybe it will be easier to write stuff down for complex stuff.
I prefer Murray Gell-Mann's account of Feynman's technique. A student once asked Gell-Mann what the Feynman method was for solving a problem they were looking at. Gell-Mann answered that the Feynamn method was this: you write down a problem, you think about it real hard, you write down the answer.
Great Video! Thank you so much for the techniques!
And... Technically, torque is not force. It measures the effect of a force... but it's not force itself
moment of force
On the one hand I already knew this. On the other hand, I love Feynman, so any mention of him gets an upvote.
Lets take history for example.We try to learn things written from the book,but we never write them down the way we understand them.If you divide concepts or ideas or simply descriptions of a page and learn them one by one,in order,everything will be sorted out and stored in your head,much more easily and better than cramming whole pages who may not even bear.
This is a very good advice. I remember explaining a math problem to my sister which i had problems with earlier and when i did that evrything became easier and more managable.
Actual video starts at 1:18..
Thanks, came here to say that.
Some people here seem to think that it is about understanding the concepts. It isn't. It's about finding out what you think you understand but actually don't, so you can act on it. We often think we understand things because it's our own mind looking at itself. When we start writing an explanation in simple language that anyone could understand, is when we will find the holes in our understanding. That's the whole point - not the motivation to understand, but how you go about getting there with greater certainty and less bias.
I always abide the Einstein rule. Einstein says something like this: If u can tell something/ theory in ur own words to another person then u know what ur talking about thus understanding the topic.
I also study physics and I also do the same to undrestand things but until now I used to get stuck in my thoughts and lose the way !
Now I know whta I've been missing...just writing the thoughts on a piece of paper !
Great video buddy keep it up
I can't find a single source online that shows that this technique was actually used by Feynman. Is there a book or other source that you can cite?
Feynman promoted the idea of understanding things, not memorizing things. This technique is not "his", but he's got a good name and promoted the basic concept of this.
If you memorize something, explain it to yourself until you understand it. only then do you understand.
i61.tinypic.com/etgntj.jpg
The technique is inspired by Feynman, not used directly by him. I was inspired by the story I shared in the beginning to formulate his more informal approach into a method. You can see him talk about understanding the math ideas in his book "Surely You Must Be Joking, Mr. Feynman"
Inspiring book, HORRIBLE reader.. get mp3 version@ tinyurl . com \ nh9y7ma . remove spaces.
hey ,if anyone else wants to uncover ways to improve memory try Elumpa Simple Studying Alchemist (do a search on google ) ? Ive heard some amazing things about it and my co-worker got cool results with it.
Having to draw a line from the everyday man to the specialist requires a lot of argument and explanation, and therefore, the technique works incredibly well for memory and analysis, requiring the brain to synthesise the most functional of elements, and often times discarding, and bringing to light redundancies and potential innovations!
But when should I use this technique exactly. With all the books I need to learn I don´t have time to do this for every section.
When you need to understand, not memorize.
You don't truly understand a subject unless you can simplify it and explain it to a 10 year old.
I understand that, but almost all information has a meaning at college. So that would mean you have to use the technique for almost everything.
that´s true, there is no time to simplify "unfold" every point. I´ll try this method, but looks like its not working for complex probs.
Nigel PK read and try to understand a complete subject.
Then afterwards simplify it down to 1-7 smaller concepts which you can use this technique on.
or if possible, the entire field, depending on what you study.
Your brain works better the more you use it in stimulative ways. If you just take a huge amount of material and try to jam it down it will be like when you go to gym and try to work out for 10 hrs straight. You take time and mix up this technique and regular studies and memorization and it speeds up somewhat. You dont have time? Yes, if your house burning and you want to pick up a book and learn how to find the fastest escape rout out...is too late, otherwise, the "no time" is bs.
Didn't know this was a proper technique until now! Since I constantly talk to myself I've been accidentally using it without knowing for years
I am a lawyer. This is precisely what you must do in order to pass the essay portion of the bar examination: explain legal concepts in words of eighth grade level or below.
oh great I used the same way for learning fast but I didn't knew that it was Feynman' s technique for which he Was awarded noble prize .Allah has blessed me with such a great ability.
i have been doing this my whole life.
same
lol same here
Been doing this technique my entire life without knowing also I noticed whenever I didn't do this, it is just never the same deep understanding I get when I follow this technique.
He says, Try explaining it- whatever you're trying to understand - to yourself in the simplest language.
There. Saved you four minutes.
shivansh srivastava and use an anecdote
This video changed my life
ALL MATH AND SCIENCE TEACHERS SHOULD BE FORCED TO WATCH THISThis goes for teaching first, formal and informal; and next to students, who feel something is above their heads
Apparently I've been doing this my whole life. Well that explains a lot.
Excellent stuff. I've been a huge fan of Feynman and I realized I've implicitly used this while taking notes on philosophy and social theory (which I am majoring in now).
In my opinion however, depth and speed are mutually exclusive. And this has helped me learn deeper, not necessarily faster. And I'm glad that I slow down because of this, especially when going through difficult texts.
before i saw this video I'd used this technique mentally while doing tests and I've aced each one. even tests i thought i was going to do poorly on. it really is the best way to understand a concept; to pretend you're teaching it to someone else.
How can I explain to myself ideas that I didn't understand?...
s
You should re-read/re-learn the idea until you start to build some kind of image in your head.
Only then take out some paper and write it down or draw it. The act of writing/drawing may spark some additional ideas or may clarify the concept. Additionally, it makes a great difference to compare your ideas to other real world scenarios.
I believe and tests prove the PQRST method works best with reading material, Preview the contents (perhaps a table of contents), Question what you will learn (How do neurons communicate), Read (read the chapter, watch the lecture), Summarize ([method of this video], neurons are electrically charged and once they reach their positive electron limit they emit chemicals through the synapse and pass it over to the next neuron) and Test (for my example I'd choose different types of neurons and their functions). Personally I'd recommend studying learning from a psychological approach (mnemonics), but I'm bias with that because I have an interest in psychology but it has helped my computer science, biology, psychology, neurology, and programming skill-sets. Also try binural waves while studying I find them useful at times.
Now if only I could write like that for my research papers lol, and to add to the PQRST, the test subjects improved on the study subject with about an 75% increase in test scores and it is also known as the SQR3 (Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review) same concept just chose which is better for you, I like SQR3 because it reminds me of SQL (database query language, not related in anyway just the abbreviations are similar) which also reminds me link new information to existing information, you're brain will do this in your NREM sleep for you which is why sleep is great for learning, but now I'm getting way off subject.
Philip Rollins How do you use binural waves for studying? Is that where you record a topic on a tape recorder and play it while sleeping so that you'll retain the material at a paraconscious level?
Wow! Just starting Grad School - Masters in Math. I will definitely use this, starting right now.
This is that "teaching is the best way of learning" thing right? But, instead of writing everything down i prefer just explain to a empty chair out load, i think works the same way
note: 3:03, temperature is not directly linked to energy, if you transform ice to water (0°c 1013 hPa), you have to add energy to the system, but temperature doesn't necessarily change
Why teachers don't teach with this technique in mind is beyond me.
1 - choose the concept you want to understand
2 - explain the idea to yourself as if you were teaching it to someone who did not understand it
3 - whenever you get stuck go back to the reference materials and relearn the material until you get it enough to explain
4 - try to either simplify the language or create an analogy to understand it better
Very good technique good video..... appreciate it
What is said here is true for a set level of related concepts that are suitably arranged for a particular course and curriculum.
When you attempt to apply what is learned, this self teaching and learning methodology is very good within the boundaries.
The limitations might be this same strength of self-convincing, if the next stage is open-mined research, then it's good idea to practice unlearning the fringe ideas, and be able to say what is wrong and right about them in a general context.
Most story telling techniques involve some pretty impressive half-truth to convince the researchers the unspoken part is automatically true too.
torque twists and Incline plane into a screw, ( simple is better !) good Learning technique!
I've been using this method for years without knowing it was an actual technique. I'm amazed
can i use this technique to understand this technique?
even if you use this technique to understand this technique, you still have to use the technique to see if you really understood the technique by using the technique to understand the technique.
rachelmcadamslover techniqueception lol
i have used this method this afternoon and it has worked wonders.
thanks.
How can this be applied to studying women?
The technique would break.
It can be... but women are a very complicated concept that arbitrarily changes frequently based on not just genetics & nurture... but also mood... and this mood may or may not be under turbo mode because of mood disorders or estrogen levels.
Really a struggle in understanding women is a struggle with the disease known as estrogen in order to match the perfect vision of a boyfriend the woman is trying to find. In order to skip these extra steps you have to be either surrounded by other women worshiping you (perhaps paying prostitutes and taking instagram photos), or you have to be a male model so that you are no longer graded on this arbitrary grading scale.
Logician What if i look like a potato
Hakasauars then you need to find Mrs. Potato
Logician Don't you mean Miss potato?
My chemistry teacher thought me this technique, it's one of the best things that help me through classes this 2016
Godis willing52 your teacher thought it to you! I wish I had telepathic teachers!
I wonder if it could be used to learn how to record quality audio...
Maybe it could be used to not be rude and nit pick a small inconvenience on a video
Greenranger8
If the audio sucks, it sucks. There's no need to pussyfoot around it. I'm sure the uploader is big enough to not get his feelings hurt by that
That's possible too.
The audio is not GREAT. lol what? its a normal echoy webcam microphone. I dont particularly care about the audio quality, but a 5$ lav mic from amazon would probably sound 3 times better haha.
But again, I dont really care about how much the uploader put effort & resources into his small youtube video he posted 5 years ago to get his point across :P
The audio was acceptable.
I understood what you were gonna explain before the first minute was up. Convert anything you study into simple words.
Thanks. (However it doesnt work for the stuff i have to study --- Memorizing a bunch of stuff that are not conceptual ) EX: numbers names dates etc. > but yes... "comprehension" requires simplification.
Bagyo Policarpio same here😔
Except for complex subjects which are complex because if they were simple they wouldn't be complex... Basically any system with many interdependent parts and feedback loops will evade naive simplification attempts.
Okay. I just realised that I've been using, doing it rather for a long time.
I learnt this really late. (Early 30s). So thankful for the internet that knowledge like this can travel all the way to Southeast Asia. 😊
I have a problem with this technique, what if a student thinks he understands parts of the subject, and goes to explain things to himselve, while actually writing complete nonsensical conclusions? You will always need somebody to proofcheck your "self-explanation".
Don't worry about that...he'll find out just how wrong he is on test day.
check it with your lecture notes or the textbook
That's not a problem with this technique... What kind of technique could magically stop you from being wrong?
It's actually better to be wrong and then corrected than correct the first time. You will have a greater chance of remembering the concept because you can think back to the time you were corrected.
I have been teaching myself to code, and realized halfway through watching this video that I technically do this technique mentally. When I have a problem scripting something, I always try to pinpoint the concept I don't understand and focus on learning that instead of focusing on my script.
Ive always tried to learn this way on my own, the only big issue for me is that it takes LOADS of time! yet i learn this way the best. But thanks for giving me more ideas
*BY THE WAY DOES ANYONE HERE HAVE IDEA HOW CAN I FIX THIS:* i really need help D:
.Sometimes i learn by book and doing this way better than going to lecture, sure lecturers kinda give me wider perspective but it is so hard for me to think along in lessons, i learn on my own pace an i usually forget a lot after lectures becaue i dont have time to make my own connections when i try to scribble down stuff that lecturer says, sometimes topic is new to me too so i cant relate it to anything and i forget..! but i have to go to lectures otherwise i wont know what everyone else is doing.. Recently i tried listening rather than writing things down, but then i dont have any teacher material (sometimes they are needed for future practise lessons). And so basicly i have very little time to self study this way shown here this video.. because i like to go down to the core of things but it takes loads of time!
So if anyone here has any ideas please reply :D id be thankful
maybe listen on lectures to get main idea
then study at home?
and ask material from friends? D:
(however i dont want to depend on others that way..)
Easy note down what u learn each day and revisit it the next day, week and then month. After that the knowledge had made a good solid foundation in your mind. I've been doing this method this year and I've basically learned 5AS subjects most people do 3.
***** The reason it takes loads of time is you're not doing it right. You're supposed to simplify the material as much as possible. If it's taking you hours to explain a chapter you've learned, you're probably using too much formal language, or your use of analogies is off. I used this method to get an A in a 4th year advanced statistics course in economics. I've learned from experience that it really does work, in that searching for what you don't know is more important than reviewing what you already do know.
***** how do you make sure however, that your imaginary guess isnt wrong? Ive actually tried to do something like that recently, i try to get somewhat main idea of the topic i need, i dont go into deep details, and while i have the main idea of the thing i go and study the thing i actually need to know (for an exam or test or so..) did you mean something similar? :)
***** perhaps it's because the material itself is incredibly dense (at first, of course). Maybe organic chemistry might be a good example, since there are so many different reactions and mechanisms that are daunting to remember, and also countless exceptions to rules learned early on. I think repeated exposure as mentioned above is very helpful. As long as you put in the time to understand the concept at first, it will become more intuitive as you continue to expose yourself to it, and perhaps even its applications (e.g. practice problems, research, etc.) - much like practicing an instrument! ^^
if it really does take too much time, you can try to read a textbook and explain it to yourself mentally/verbally as you go along; this could be a possible alternative to writing things down, as long as you can really remember what devices you used in your explanation, such as analogies, a particular diagram you found on Google Images after searching the topic, etc.
+TheiLame I can suggest you few things I do, I only recently discovered.
1) Use E-books to read. Download Adobe Reader and use Text aloud feature. While the computer reads for you keep looking at the book you are reading. I promise you, pages fly by, and you'll never miss an important point. This will help us do two things : Our eye info processing in brain is slower than our ear's, so we'll grasp the concept fast - particularly if we keep looking at the book. You can avoid short time wastage, like we don't notice it, but we have huge time waste in changing between paragraphs because your ears are not engaged in reading, you can be distracted easily. If you engage both your organs on it your brain can't escape to other thoughts. Pages fly by and you'll never miss what is important. Of course, you can pause any time. Better to do this with fixed time periods i.e. study periods of 45 min (my suggestion). This way you can actually sit for hours without interruption, but mind you its very bad on your brain. You are easily tired by this - hence take breaks. Use ear phones if possible.
2) Whenever you read, always keep one principle in mind : One sentence per paragraph. No matter how big a given paragraph is, you just need to summarize it in one sentence i.e. what the paragraph is trying to say. Then in next sentence you write what you are expecting in next paragraph. At the end of section, you have a collection of sentences, now group those sentences and form a coherent paragraph. Tada !! You have a good summary and you don't need to re read any material again. you'll have time for cross referencing, which is what a great scholar does.
3) Focusing is important while learning. How to engage your focus is answered by imagination. I don't need to explain this further.
Good luck.
If you want to learn something you have to give it a time, specially if you are studying on your own without any external help. Write down something when you truly grasp the topic and keep revising it. If you do not revise you will forget it.
How hard was it to get into MIT Mr. Young?
+SogMosee he didnt get into MITphysically. he took the free course provided by MIT. search for MITOpenCourseware. *dont forget to donate!
+muhammad nurharith because donating to a billion dollar institution is always important!
+João Archer Yes especially if the billion dollar institution is offering something to you for free
Oh, I completely agree! My point was only that Feynman is *not* an ordinary person, and that we should keep that in mind when reflecting upon this topology story. Visual imagination and mental models are powerful techniques, but they aren't a magic bullet. They may appear so in Feynman's hands, but the magic is his own. We should therefore not be mislead into thinking that all of the theorems of topology will become trivial to us, as they were to Feynman.
Thnx,but not applicable to medicine :(
just not enough time to do this with all the materials :(
I'm currently doing dentistry. It's not as hectic, but there's not enough time too. I apply this after every clinical/surgical session when my tutors and professors mention some ingenious/creative way to solve a problem. It worked really well. I hope you have the time for this too!
1HOUSEMD same:( its so time consuming but i think you should start studying weeks before the exam so you will learn the topic 100%
I've always used this technique without knowing. I talk while walking explaining to myself using analogies. Also asking questions to oneself is very important.
Thanks Ryan Gosling!
This is first time i am seeing feynman technique but suprisingly i ve been using it yrs with my addition of diagrams..😃😀🙂
> Uses the Feynman Technique to learn the basic concept
> Exam paper asks you to recite facts that you had to memorize
F U C C but hey at least I LeArNeD
This is a really good advice! As for me, I do not possess a good memory so unless I really understand the subject I will not remember it. No reason for even trying, I'll forget everything in a month unless I understand it.
But what made me write this comment is that it is very usual for our teachers (I am from Ukraine) to say something like this: "I know you don't understand the subject, so just keep on repeating it and you'll remember that"... That's a one bad advice!
wierd I have been doing this without knowing it was an actual technique.
You offer good advice for someone who has trouble keeping straight what they know and what they don't. (Admittedly this can be tricky sometimes. Especially in technical subjects, where sometimes people worry too much about vocabulary which they don't fully understand, rather than the ideas this vocabulary expresses).
But certainly this is not the ONLY moral of the Feynman topology story - in fact, that story is very much a testament to his genius.