Study Tips from Richard Feynman
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Study Tips from Richard Feynman
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Re: Study Tips from Richard Feynman
#2It also helps greatly to be as smart as him.
Re: Study Tips from Richard Feynman
#3There's the famous Feynman method i.e. Study hard, Teach it to others, Identify the gaps in your own knowledge, and Simplify/Synthesize.
But people often also forget that there is another method associated with Feynman aka The Feynman Algorithm (which was outlined by his colleague Murray Gell-Mann, a noble prize winning physicist himself). This method goes as follows:
1. Write down the problem. 2. Think real hard. 3. Write the solution.
Not to discount or discredit anything (or anyone) here but we must understand that Feynman was no average person and that his advice on anything related to learning or problem-solving must be viewed through an optics that adequately adjusts for his intellect as well.
Re: Study Tips from Richard Feynman
#4There's the famous Feynman method i.e. Study hard, Teach it to others, Identify the gaps in your own knowledge, and Simplify/Synthesize. But people often also forget that there is another method associated with Feynman aka The Feynman Algorithm (which was outlined by his colleague Murray Gell-Mann, a noble prize winning physicist himself). This method goes as follows: 1. Write down the problem. 2. Think real hard. 3.…
My variation on that method:
1. load my brain with all the context of the problem
2. go out for a run, which bounces it all around in my brain until things fall into place
3. write the solution when I get back
Re: Study Tips from Richard Feynman
#5There's the famous Feynman method i.e. Study hard, Teach it to others, Identify the gaps in your own knowledge, and Simplify/Synthesize. But people often also forget that there is another method associated with Feynman aka The Feynman Algorithm (which was outlined by his colleague Murray Gell-Mann, a noble prize winning physicist himself). This method goes as follows: 1. Write down the problem. 2. Think real hard. 3.…
My variation on that method: 1. load my brain with all the context of the problem 2. go out for a run, which bounces it all around in my brain until things fall into place 3. write the solution when I get back
A lazier step 2 that works for me is to sleep for a full night.
Re: Study Tips from Richard Feynman
#6There's the famous Feynman method i.e. Study hard, Teach it to others, Identify the gaps in your own knowledge, and Simplify/Synthesize. But people often also forget that there is another method associated with Feynman aka The Feynman Algorithm (which was outlined by his colleague Murray Gell-Mann, a noble prize winning physicist himself). This method goes as follows: 1. Write down the problem. 2. Think real hard. 3.…
To be fair, that second algorithm works pretty well. I frequently solve problems by staring at them.
Re: Study Tips from Richard Feynman
#7“The only way to deep happiness is to do something you love to the best of your ability.”
That's sums it up pretty well.
Re: Study Tips from Richard Feynman
#8There's the famous Feynman method i.e. Study hard, Teach it to others, Identify the gaps in your own knowledge, and Simplify/Synthesize. But people often also forget that there is another method associated with Feynman aka The Feynman Algorithm (which was outlined by his colleague Murray Gell-Mann, a noble prize winning physicist himself). This method goes as follows: 1. Write down the problem. 2. Think real hard. 3.…
> Teach it to others
If there's no one around, try explaining it to yourself. An easy method to determine whether you superficially understood a topic or not. After reading some material, it's remarkable how little of it you've truly understood sometimes.
Re: Study Tips from Richard Feynman
#9It also helps greatly to be as smart as him.
It's nice to get free stuff from nature but you can't go back and ask for more.
Re: Study Tips from Richard Feynman
#10“The only way to deep happiness is to do something you love to the best of your ability.” That's sums it up pretty well.
I think there are some (perhaps many) people who just don't have this level of passion in themselves.
When I was younger, I liked working in software. It was fun, and interesting, but did I "love" it? Honestly I don't think so.
Looking back on my time as a student, I can't think of any subject that I loved so much that that studying was something I wanted to do. It was always a chore, always something I did because it was a means to getting to a point in life where I didn't have to do it anymore.
Now, at halfway through my 50s, I would not be able to answer the standard interview question "what are you passionate about?" Nothing comes to mind. Everything I do day-to-day is either stuff that I need to do to pay the bills and support my family, or is in some way procrastinating on stuff that isn't yet so urgent that I have to do it.
I think people like Feynman are born with a burning passion for learning that most people just don't have.