The Feynman Technique is a foundational mental model for unlocking growth in your career, startup, business, or writing.

A thread on how it works and how it can change your life...

Richard Feynman was an American theoretical physicist.

He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965 for his groundbreaking work in quantum electrodynamics.

Feynman's true genius, however, was in his ability to convey extremely complex ideas in simple, digestible ways.
Richard Feynman observed that complexity and jargon are often used to mask a lack of deep understanding.

The Feynman Technique is a learning framework that forces you to strip away needless complexity and develop a deep, elegant understanding of a given topic.
The Feynman Technique involves four key steps:

(1) Identify
(2) ELI5 ("Explain It To Me Like I'm 5")
(3) Reflect & Study
(4) Organize, Convey & Review

Let's cover each step and how you can make this powerful framework work for you...
Step 1: Identify

What is the topic you want to learn more about?

Identify the topic and write down everything you know about it.

Read and research the topic and write down all of your new learnings (and the sources of each).

This first step sets the stage for what is to come.
Step 2: ELI5

Attempt to explain the topic to a child.

Once again, write down everything you know about your topic, but this time, pretend you are explaining it to a child.

Use simple language and terms.

Focus on brevity.
Step 3: Reflect & Study

Reflect on your performance in Step 2.

How well were you able to explain the topic to a child? Where did you get frustrated? Where did you resort to jargon or get stuck?

These are the gaps in your understanding.

Read and study to fill them.
Step 4: Organize, Convey & Review

Organize your elegant, simple language into a compelling story or narrative.

Convey it to others. Test-and-learn. Iterate and refine your story or narrative accordingly.

Review (and respect) your new, deeper understanding of the topic.
The Feynman Technique is an incredible framework for unlocking growth.

The best entrepreneurs, writers, thinkers, and operators have leveraged this technique (directly or indirectly).

They share a common genius - the ability to convey complex ideas in simple, digestible ways.
It is easy to overcomplicate and intimidate. We all know the people - teachers, peers, bosses - who try to do this.

Do not be fooled - complexity and jargon are often used to mask a lack of deep understanding.

Remember The Feynman Technique. Find beauty in simplicity.
The Feynman Technique is a foundational mental model and learning framework.

For five more powerful mental models, see my thread below. https://t.co/4gIvZ6jVhh
A few additional resources for more learning on the Feynman Technique:

@ProfFeynman on Twitter https://t.co/to6chYQjWc

The Feynman Technique by @ShaneAParrish: https://t.co/Jomg46sy2i

@Inc Article: https://t.co/sdRer9vefY
If you enjoyed this, follow me for more educational threads on business, money, finance, and economics. You can find all of my threads in the meta-thread below. https://t.co/53UhhfzIcp
And if you are less Twitter inclined, sign up for my newsletter here, where you can find all of my old threads and receive all of my new threads directly to your inbox. https://t.co/NEe1Tov0Xg

More from Sahil Bloom

THREAD: With #silversqueeze trending on Twitter, it appears that this week's market spectacle may well be in the silver market.

A perfect moment for a thread on the Hunt Brothers and their alleged attempt to corner the silver market...


1/ First, let's set the stage.

The Hunt Brothers - Nelson Bunker Hunt, William Herbert Hunt, and Lamar Hunt - were the sons of Texas tycoon H.L. Hunt.

H.L. Hunt had amassed a billion-dollar fortune in the oil industry.

He died in 1974 and left that fortune to his family.


2/ After H.L.'s passing, the Hunt Brothers had taken over the family holdings and successfully managed to expand the Hunt empire.

By the late 1970s, the family's fortune was estimated to be ~$5 billion.

In the financial world, the Hunt name was as good as gold (or silver!).


3/ But the 1970s were a turbulent time in America.

Following the oil crisis of the early 1970s, the U.S. had entered a period of stagflation - a dire macroeconomic condition characterized by high inflation, low growth, and high unemployment.


4/ The Hunt Brothers - particularly Nelson Bunker and William Herbert - believed that the inflationary environment would persist and destroy the value of their family's holdings.

To hedge this risk, they turned to silver.

They began buying the metal at ~$3 per ounce in 1973.

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APIs in general are so powerful.

Best 5 public APIs you can use to build your next project:

1. Number Verification API

A RESTful JSON API for national and international phone number validation.

🔗
https://t.co/fzBmCMFdIj


2. OpenAI API

ChatGPT is an outstanding tool. Build your own API applications with OpenAI API.

🔗 https://t.co/TVnTciMpML


3. Currency Data API

Currency Data API provides a simple REST API with real-time and historical exchange rates for 168 world currencies

🔗 https://t.co/TRj35IUUec


4. Weather API

Real-Time & historical world weather data API.

Retrieve instant, accurate weather information for
any location in the world in lightweight JSON format.

🔗 https://t.co/DCY8kXqVIK

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