What is the Feynman Technique?
A simple yet powerful learning method to deeply understand any concept.
When you want to learn effectively, deep understanding is worth much more than simple memorization. That’s exactly what the Feynman Technique offers — a simple but incredibly effective approach to mastering any subject.
🧠 The Feynman Technique in a nutshell
Popularized by physicist Richard Feynman, Nobel Prize winner and great science communicator, this method is based on one simple principle: 👉 If you can’t explain a concept in simple terms, you don’t truly understand it. It helps you identify areas of confusion and turn superficial knowledge into solid understanding.
🪄 The 4 steps of the Feynman Technique
1. Choose a concept to understand
Start by picking a topic you really want to master: a course concept, a formula, a historical event…
Example: the law of supply and demand.
2. Explain it in simple words
Take a sheet of paper and write the explanation as if you were teaching it to a 12-year-old child. Avoid complicated terms or memorized quotes: rephrase it in your own words.
“When something is rare and everyone wants it, its price goes up. When there’s a lot of it and few people want it, its price goes down.”
3. Identify the areas of confusion
While trying to explain, you’ll notice parts where you get stuck or hesitate. These are your weak points. Go back to your course materials or sources to dig deeper into those specific points.
4. Simplify further and create analogies
Finally, rewrite your explanation even more clearly. Analogies and concrete examples are very powerful for anchoring your understanding.
“It’s like concert tickets: if there are only a few and lots of people want them, the price goes up.”
📈 Why it works
This method forces your brain to:
- rephrase the information → therefore truly understand it;
- detect gaps → therefore fill them;
- create connections → therefore remember much longer. It’s an active learning strategy, far more effective than passively re-reading your notes.
📚 How to use it during revision
- ✅ After each chapter, apply the Feynman Technique to the key points.
- ✅ Create one card per concept with your simplified explanations.
- ✅ Revisit them regularly to improve and enrich your explanations. With RagsApp, you can even turn your notes into flashcards based on your own rephrasings. This forces you to actively explain, which strengthens understanding.
💡 “What I cannot create, I do not understand.” – Richard Feynman The Feynman Technique isn’t just a study method: it’s a way of thinking. By training yourself to explain simply what you learn, you move from fragile knowledge to lasting and deep mastery.