High-performance learning is both fun and has a proven approach.
- Feynman
If you do not know how to simplify the knowledge you have learned, it is equivalent to blindly and lacking direction to collect "fragmented knowledge", greedy and refined, only accumulating quantity but not systematically developing and using. Under the guidance of this erroneous learning mindset:
First, you're learning only a bunch of empty conclusions rather than a full body of logic
Second, the simplification process you did removes the most important deductions.
Third, your learning turns pluralistic dialectical analysis into a unified position summary.
Fourth, you only remember the superficial facts and do not discover the principles behind them.
In the long run, this learning mindset will completely and completely dominate your behavior patterns, affecting your life and work for the following reasons
First, your knowledge is fragmented, so it's hard to think systematically and macroscopically.
Second, you tend to simplify and be one-sided when you look at problems.
Third, your thinking and vision are easy to narrow, and you can't see long-term possibilities.
Fourth, it's hard to think complexly, independently, and deeply.
As Apple founder Steven Paul Jobs once said: Sometimes the knowledge you get is not knowledge at all, it is just a pile of information at best.
No matter how fast you learn, you won't be able to master all the knowledge that will help you. Even if it is one in ten thousand, this goal is out of reach. One data shows that in the millions of years from walking upright to 2003, human civilization has created 5 exabytes of information, equivalent to 5 billion 1G-sized movies. But by 2010, it took humans only two days to create 5 exabytes of information; by 2013, that time was 10 minutes; by 2019, that time had become less than 10 seconds.
Knowledge is increasing faster than you can imagine. It's a fact that we have to acknowledge, no matter how energetic you are, how powerful your brain's storage capacity is, and how much time you have, you're unlikely to catch up with the growth of knowledge. So fragmented learning that focuses only on quantity and speed has long since failed us — perhaps a little wasted "value." In this day and age, the most effective learning is no longer mechanical memory, repetitive, intense practice, and devilish learning that pushes time to the extreme, but strictly follows the simple and direct Feynman method of learning, especially the last step: simplification, as simple as possible - learning only what you need, learning only what is important to you, learning only the "most core knowledge" of knowledge. In the first principle, we must firmly grasp these three points and systematically dig deeper into the knowledge learned.
Feynman has never advocated the pursuit of quantitative "greed for perfection" learning, and he once said sarcastically: "If there is a person who is willing to take his limited life to chase infinite knowledge, and is still moved by it, then he is purely an ignorant delusion." Even if we don't talk about today, as early as a few decades ago, the division of labor in society has long been extremely fine, each field is like a sophisticated machine, and each "part" represents a complex science. The most efficient learning must and can only be to make yourself an expert in a certain field, rather than trying to become proficient and become an all-rounder. There are no all-rounders in this world.
If you blindly seek perfection in the process of learning, and are not willing to delete, organize and summarize, just like eating and accumulating food, not only the stomach and intestines can not stand it, but eventually the whole body will be overwhelmed. It is difficult for you to form your own knowledge system, and you cannot develop some of it to the extreme, which will only make you feel more anxious and afraid of the lack of knowledge.
How hard it is to master a subject
In today's day and age, it is getting easier and easier to learn a new game, but it is getting harder and harder to master a new knowledge. Why don't most people learn? The traditional learning method is the method that most of us are using,
It has three characteristics.
First, it is mainly based on input. Rote memorization, or superimposed reading, quantitative change to achieve qualitative change.
Second, dogmatism. Blindly worship the theory or framework on the book, and have a narrow field of vision.
Third, standardized applications. Practice strictly according to the knowledge learned, encounter problems and rigid sets, lack of innovation. Input-oriented – rote memorization. The advantage is that you can accumulate as much information as possible in a short period of time and learn a lot of knowledge points. The disadvantage is that the content retention rate is low, and the things remembered today will be "ten without leaving three" in a few days.
Feynman believed that good learning methods can create a grand vision and sharp understanding of the world for a person. In my opinion, the Feynman Method provides us with three different abilities:
First, foresight
Judge future trends by interpreting the messages that knowledge delivers to us, rather than just remembering them.
Second, penetration
Through Feynman's analysis skills, you can see the essence of things from fragmented knowledge, solve problems quickly, and grasp the laws of things.
Third, wisdom
By condensing and repeating knowledge in the form of output, absorbing the essence, so that the knowledge is used by me, and the environment is matched, forming my own knowledge system.
What is the Feynman Method of Learning?
As a well-known Nobel Prize physicist, Richard Feynman understood the difference between "remembering knowledge" and "knowing knowledge" very well. This is one of the most important reasons for his success. Feynman created the Feynman learning method (also known as the "Feynman technique") in the process of research and teaching, ensuring that he knew things more thoroughly than others.
Feynman's learning method provides four key words: Concept, Teach, Review, and Simplify.
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First, good thinking requires positive feedback.
Mindset choices are problems that both individuals and organizations encounter when it comes to solving problems. We all know that successful individuals and organizations are always good at thinking systematically, and one of the important concepts is "positive feedback" (also called "amplified feedback"). It is like an engine of growth, a process that drives the system to accelerate change, and can achieve "self-enhancement" in the process of thinking. Feynman learning provides positive feedback to our thinking, which promotes the self-enhancement of knowledge and ability in learning.
Second, output accelerates the maturity of thinking.
The American science writer Robert K. Merton famously proposed the "Matthew effect" in 1968: "Any individual, group or region, once it achieves success and progress in a certain aspect (such as money, reputation, status, etc.), it will produce an accumulative advantage, and there will be more opportunities for greater success and progress." "The connotation it expresses is that as long as we gain a little advantage in a certain field, we can continue to expand this advantage, and the results will be bigger and bigger."
The effect of Feynman's learning method is a Matthew effect. In the study and thinking of a certain knowledge, a successful output will also enhance the ability of input, so that the success of the next output is more likely, and the results achieved next time will promote the next learning and thinking, strengthen their knowledge system and application ability, and accelerate the maturity of thinking.
Third, feynman's approach allows thinking to be quantifiable.
Our quantitative thinking about any issue is reflected in six aspects, each of which can use Feynman techniques.
▲ Direction → the main direction of locked thinking.
The first step in quantifying thinking is to list all the alternate directions, make comparative choices, and lock in one major direction. "Direction" is not only the problem and link you should focus on solving, but also the most conducive breakthrough for thinking. The army attacks enemy positions, technicians develop products, husbands please wives, parents educate their children, all need to find a main direction of attack from the alternatives.
Inductive → establish the main logic of thinking.
To solve equations, students must establish an algorithm; judge historical events, establish a historical view and foothold; we must have a basic position, three views and logic when thinking about problems; reading and learning, even if they are preconceived, must have their own way of analysis. Logic can also be quantified, establish their own logic, you can collect, sort out and summarize information in a targeted manner, without "taking one step at a time".
▲ Verification → verify the effect of thinking.
In Feynman's technique, we validate what we have learned by "output", that is, to teach instead of learning. We can also use it to help think, to explain our insights (opinions) and analysis (whys) on a certain problem to others, and to tell each other our own ideas, which can play a good role in verification.
▲Feedback → feedback is correct and wrong.
We validate our own opinions, arguments, and logic in the form of output, receive feedback from the audience, see if he can understand and accept them, and listen to each other's ideas. In this session, we receive two kinds of information. The first is "right" – the other person's affirmation; the second is "wrong" – the other's denial. Based on these two kinds of feedback, we can adjust our previous thinking, reinforce the correct content, and correct or delete the wrong places.
Simplifying → simplifying complex thinking processes.
This link is like making a thumbnail or a briefing, refining the main points of thinking, being able to see the goal of thinking, the logic of thinking, the results of thinking at a glance, and being able to summarize it in two words, making the process easy to understand. It's like a simplification of Feynman's technique. For example, in a meeting of only 5 minutes, explain to the client "Why a two-hole bridge needs to be designed" or "The best financial solution for the project". This is about simplifying the complex thought process so that others can understand it quickly.
▲Absorb the fruits of → digestion thinking.
Good thinkers always have their own thinking system, and in the last step, they must digest and absorb the results of thinking and transform them into content that can be applied. Solving problems at work, dealing with difficult problems in learning, reconciling family or relationships, etc., are all the results of thinking. More importantly, in the process of thinking, gradually form their own simple and efficient model. The more powerful wisdom is, the simpler it becomes to practice!
The Feynman learning method is divided into five steps
The principles and specific application techniques of each step are introduced in detail. Whether studying or working, or even thinking about other things, these simple and easy steps can create a very impressive effect for us.
Choose the knowledge and skills you want to master, and truly understand the need to learn it, and generate concentration under this premise. Focus is the foundation of all successful learning.
Classify, deconstruct and compare the knowledge and concepts we want to learn, systematically understand these contents, save the advantages and disadvantages, screen out the knowledge we need, and choose the appropriate way to learn.
In a scenario where you need to teach others, "teach instead of learning", explain your insights to those who are not familiar with the knowledge, explain the knowledge to them, and do it in the way and in the simplest language they can understand.
Through review and reflection, from the process of output to find out what you can not understand, or can not be simply explained, record it, go back to the second step, check the source, make up for the weak knowledge points, or correct the wrong, unrealistic knowledge points, until you can make another output.
Repeat the above steps, simplifying and absorbing until this knowledge is internalized into your knowledge system and can be used by me. Internalization is the ultimate goal of all learning. If you can't successfully translate your knowledge into what you need, the quality of your learning will be greatly reduced.