The Feynman Technique

The Feynman Technique is a method of learning that is incredibly effective for

deep understanding and information retention. How many time have you
learned something fast only to forget how to do it weeks later? Maybe it was
the Pythagoras theorem, back in high school when you crammed for your math
exam. Now when you friend asks you to recite it, all you can do is shrug and
say

“What the fuck is that? A Harry Potter spell?”

The problem was that you never learned the thing properly, you simply stored
it in the temporary storage section of your brain. This is how many people go
about learning, reciting things only to forget them later. There is a big
difference between knowledge and wisdom, knowledge is having the
information, wisdom is knowing how to use it.

The Feynman Technique is a mental model that will help you gain sufficient
wisdom in any endeavour. Richard Feynman was a Noble Prize-winning
theoretical physicist who was best known for his work in the fields of quantum
mechanics, quantum electrodynamics, superfluidity and other groovy shit. To
say the least his was a smart dude, he was often called the ‘Great Explainer’ for
his uncanny ability to teach complicated principles in layman terms that
everybody could understand. Feynman claims that he wasn’t a naturally gifted
physicist but managed to make it due to his learning style and hard work. Here
is his notorious method for accelerated understanding.

Step One:
Write the name of a concept that you want to learn about on top of a blank
piece of paper.

Step Two:
Write down an explanation of the concept using plain English. Pretend that you
trying to teach it to the slowest person you know or a child. Assume the person
has no idea what the hell you are talking about so make sure you cover
everything you know simply.

Step Three:
Read over your explanation and take note of the areas in which you are lacking
the sufficient knowledge in order to articulate yourself properly. Take note of
these areas and return to your source material until you have a better
understanding Use a variety of materials: YouTube videos, books, and experts.
Return to step two and simplify further.
 Note: When you simply you are cutting out the slack, do not remove
things that are important for understanding whatever you trying to
learn. You are simply trying to be more concise.
Step Four:
Use the aid of simple analogies, diagrams, metaphors and anything else that
can help you commit what you have learned to memory. Come at it from
different angles to gain a deeper understanding of the topics. Einstein is often
attributed to saying:

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough”

The Feynman Technique will ensure that you understand any subject incredibly
well.

What Can You Learn Using The Method?

To put it simply you can learn anything with the method from:

 Computer Programming
 Calculus
 Physics
 Economics
 Chemistry
 Mathematics

Anything at all! You might have to modify the method slightly for some
disciplines but the main underlying principle is what makes the method so
effective.

WHY IT WORKS:
The Feynman Technique works for many reasons. Often when we are trying to
learn new concepts we erroneously assume that we have learned them and
understood them when in actuality we haven’t fully grasped the concepts.

Feynman once said:

“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the
easiest person to fool.”

This is the first and most critical mistake that many make when trying to learn
new things. Writing what you know and trying to simplify it exposes your gaps
in understanding.

The second reason it works is through the beauty of neural connections. Think
back to 2 weeks ago when you went grocery shopping. Can you remember
what you bought or what happened at the shops? Most likely not, your brain
does not put much stock into the mundane. Now let’s assume 2 weeks ago you
were shopping and you saw three firefighters running towards to deli section.
Now that’s a memory you won’t forget, you might remember it for the rest of
your life because it was out of the ordinary.

The strongest neural connections are always formed with things that are out of
the ordinary. This is why you can remember what you were doing when you
heard about 9/11 or can vividly recall your first kiss. Now when you are
learning and are up to step 4. You are forced to come up with analogies and
metaphors to help you understand concepts. This simple process is out of the
ordinary and allows your brain to have more stimulus to work with, more
checkpoints to return to when you trying to recall a piece of information.

The Stoics have a similar method. Basically it involves decomposing the object of desire
into its components and contemplating its past and future in order to realize it's not worth
desiring over. If you are attracted to another person, realize that this person has flaws
(could be a habitual liar, hates orphans, care too must about their own looks, is a filthy
Epicurean), that this person, was once a kid with parents, that this person will soon be a
corpse.
We think of ourselves as rational creatures who, when getting sudden primitive urges, beat
themselves up in lamentation. According to Epictetus, humans are characterized by the
duality of primitive nature and rational capacity, we have bestial bodies and divine minds,
we have the "body in common with the animals, and reason and intelligence in common with the
gods". (Discourses, 1.3)
Likewise, we share our impulses or primitive nature, especially propagation/sexual desire,
with that of the animals. What distinguishes animals from human beings is their lack of
reason, a lack of capacity for rational thought. In more scientific terms, we as humans have
the ability of self-reflection: by being able to abstract thought patterns from actions we
become self-conscious. By being able to think about our thoughts in terms of "what I think
and what I do are two different things" we become aware of the fact that we have the ability
to decide if we act out on our impulses or not. When animals are aroused and think about
sex they pretty much cannot resist the urge. This might be true for most people most of the
time, but we still have the potential ability to observe our thoughts, see what this urge really
is, reflect on it and either reject it or act out on it.
You cannot suppress a part of your inherent nature, but that is also not the goal.
Suppression of emotions and primitive urges is misguided behavior.
From a Stoic perspective, sexuality is regarded as an indifferent, something outside of your
full control. Do not punish yourself for sexual desire that arises involuntarily, but also do not
have irrational desire for such an external thing. Be prepared to lead a life without sex. One
the other hand, if you have sex on a regular basis, do it in a way that does not interfere with
your virtuous nature. Temperance, as always, is the keyword and a core virtue. Epictetus
and Marcus Aurelius warn us not become slaves of our own urges. Fidelity and dignity are
far more precious than any short-term sensation could ever be.
Epictetus treated sexual desire like any other form of desire and advocated for marital-only
sex:
"Provide things relating to the body no further than absolute need requires, as meat, drink, clothing,
house, retinue. But cut off everything that looks toward show and luxury. Before marriage guard
yourself with all your ability from unlawful intercourse with women." (Enchiridion, 33)
and:
"If you are dazzled by the semblance of any promised pleasure, guard yourself against being
bewildered by it; but let the affair wait your leisure, and procure yourself some delay. Then bring to
your mind both points of time — that in which you shall enjoy the pleasure, and that in which you
will repent and reproach yourself, after you have enjoyed it — and set before you, in opposition to
these, how you will rejoice and applaud yourself if you abstain. And even though it should appear to
you a seasonable gratification, take heed that its enticements and allurements and seductions may
 not subdue you, but set in opposition to this how much better it is to be conscious of having gained
so great a victory." (Enchiridion, 34)
If you want to resist sexual urges, for whatever reasons, in a Stoic way, make use of the old
Stoic practice of taking it apart and seeing it for what it really is:
"Or making love—something rubbing against your penis, a brief seizure and a little cloudy liquid.
Perceptions like that—latching onto things and piercing through them, so we see what they really
are."
-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, VI, 13
When you see an attractive person, you are longing for their body. And what is a body?
"A mess of blood, pieces of bone, a woven tangle of nerves, veins, arteries."
-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, II, 3

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Find a comfortable posture and relax for a few moments.

2. Think of a minor annoyance or difficulty that might happen today, e.g. breaking a dish, a small
rock flies into your windshield and cracks it, your computer isn’t working, someone gives you a
backhanded compliment, a friend is ranting, you start to feel ill, etc.

3. Say to yourself: "At first this appears to be a bad thing. But only things which are in my power
are good or bad. Is this something that is up to me?" (Answer: "no")

4. "Some things are within my power while others are not. Since this is not in my power, if it were
to happen I can completely accept it and let go." (Do this -- breathe and accept the imagined
situation.)

5. "So in reality, this is neither good nor bad, because things that are not up to me have no moral
weight and do not affect whether one can live a good life."

6. "What could I do if this situation were to happen? What would a moral exemplar do? (Imagine
doing that.) Is there anything I could do to help prevent it from happening?"

7. Repeat steps 2-6 with more challenging things as you feel able. (The end result is feeling calm,
not anxious or upset!)

Then you can work through general categories of dispreffered outcomes. Here are some ideas:

 Minor annoyances (traffic, slow internet, design flaws, poor aesthetics, etc.)
 Minor disagreements with others (e.g. Facebook debates, etc.)
 Harm or death to self, including violence and ill health
 Harm or death to loved ones, including violence and ill health
 Possessions damaged/lost/stolen and poverty
 Job/Career Loss
 Broken relationships, falling outs, cheating, divorce, loneliness
 Imprisonment, torture, and exile
 War and genocide
 SHTF societal collapse and dystopia

These general categories then can be broken into subcategories and specifics.
Deliberate practice develops skills that other people have already figured out how to do
and for which effective training techniques have been established.
The practice regimen should be designed and overseen by a teacher or coach who is
familiar with the abilities of expert performers and with how those abilities can best be
developed.
Deliberate practice takes place outside one’s comfort zone and requires a student to
constantly try things that are just beyond his or her current abilities. Thus it demands
near-maximal effort, which is generally not enjoyable.
Deliberate practice involves well-defined, specific goals and often involves improving
some aspect of the target performance; it is not aimed at some vague overall
improvement.
Once an overall goal has been set, a teacher or coach will develop a plan for making a
series of small changes that will add up to the desired larger change. Improving some
aspect of the target performance allows a performer to see that his or her performances
have been improved by the training.
Deliberate practice is deliberate, that is, it requires a person’s full attention and
conscious actions. It isn’t enough to simply follow a teacher’s or coach’s directions. The
student must concentrate on the specific goal for his or her practice activity so that
adjustments can be made to control practice.
Deliberate practice involves feedback and modification of efforts in response to that
feedback. Early in the training process much of the feedback will come from the teacher
or coach, who will monitor progress, point out problems, and offer ways to address
those problems. With time and experience students must learn to monitor themselves,
spot mistakes, and adjust accordingly. Such self-monitoring requires effective mental
representations. Deliberate practice both produces and depends on effective mental
representations. Improving performance goes hand in hand with improving mental
representations; as one’s performance improves, the representations become more
detailed and effective, in turn making it possible to improve even more. Mental
representations make it possible to monitor how one is doing, both in practice and in
actual performance. They show the right way to do something and allow one to notice
when doing something wrong and to correct it.
Deliberate practice nearly always involves building or modifying previously acquired
skills by focusing on particular aspects of those skills and working to improve them
specifically; over time this step-by-step improvement will eventually lead to expert
performance. Because of the way that new skills are built on top of existing skills, it is
important for teachers to provide beginners with the correct fundamental skills in order
to minimize the chances that the student will have to relearn those fundamental skills
later when at a more advanced level.