Feynman Technique

Named after Nobel physicist Richard Feynman, this technique is brutally simple: explain a concept in plain language as if teaching it to a 12-year-old. When you get stuck or reach for jargon, you've found a gap in your understanding. Go back to the source material, fill the gap, then simplify again. Feynman called it "the first principle" — if you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it. The technique works because it forces you to process information at the deepest level: transformation, not repetition.